Surviving the seasonal hazards of the hayfields

Looking back, it’s surprising to realize how hazardous our ranch childhoods were.

We had scores of attractive dangers to lure us into difficult situations. We had horses, defensive cows with new calves, our pond, plus myriad things our urban friends didn’t. We were unsupervised most of the time, our fathers being at work and our mothers tending other children in those days of large families.

Most...