First Time in Tennessee, Part 2

    Early in the morning hours, I was awakened by the sheriff himself. He asked me for my I.D. He looked it over, handed it back to me. "My deputy tells me you're looking
for the Wines."  Yes sir, I am" I said.  " The deputy here will take you out to them,
in a little bit."  He had his little talk with me, about getting work here and maybe wanting to get a haircut!  They didn't care for anyone looking like a hippie! I expected that. I just said "yessir!" and let it go at that. I just wanted to get on the way and get settled in. Pretty soon, the deputy was driving me out of town and down this long,
long, dirt and gravel road. We finally came to the bottom of this hill, where it met the creek. To the right was an open field, with a few trees. To the left was an old cabin
that looked like it had been there forever!  That's just where he took me; to the old cabin. It was old and grey on the outside, but when I stepped inside, it felt warm and bright. I was glad to just have a place to lay my head. I was tired and hungry.
This was to be my home for next ten years.
   
    The remainder of the summer would be a learning season. About farming,
canning, planting; all the things that were needed, to be a farmer.  Every day
was a learning experince. That first year, I learned more than I ever would have
in school. It was better than school. There was no television there. Didn't need
one, didn't want it. We had a radio and some books. Some books came from
local library in town. We learned quite a lot from them. We also had brochures from the farm bureau, about rabbits and other matters.
    For fresh water, there was a spring in the back of the cabin. Water came
trickling down from the hill behind, into it. We kept the butter, milk and other perishables in it. For baths, we had a large galvanized tub in a back room. We'd take a one gallon bucket, get water from the spring, put it on the wood stove and
heat it up until it was hot. Then a bucket of cold water with, so it wouldn't be too
hot! Of course, we had to use the same water!