Fence Poles

My father built a small sled from wood with steel runners for use in winter. It was about 5 feet long and three feet wide. It was hand pulled and Dad acted as the horse. One Saturday the snow conditions were perfect and we decided, or Dad decided it was a good day to go get a load of fence poles for the pasture. Every year our pasture was used for an ice rink and in the evening fires would be lit and fence poles were sometimes used as fuel.

With Dad doing the pulling and me riding we made our way down to the Big Pond and a wooded area at the head of the pond. Here there were trees of all sizes and Dad said it was Crown Land. In any case he used a hand saw and ax to cut down several trees. Dad preferred Juniper for fence poles as they could stand the moisture and not rot.

These trees were tall and straight and several fence poles could be gleaned from each tree. My job was to use a hatchet to cut off the small limbs to make the pole smooth. Dad with the large ax would sharpen the end and have it ready for use next spring. The sled was loaded with over a dozen poles and it made a heavy load. We were a mile and a half from home and after crossing the ice on the pond it was all up hill.

The sled ran smooth on the ice and Dad invited me to ride. My hands were cold and I was starting to complain. Immediately Dad removed me from the sled and sped up his pace. Without saying a word I had to struggle to keep up. I was perhaps eight or nine at the time. My effort resulted in me getting warm in a hurry. This lesson I never forgot.

We moved off the ice at the bottom of what we called the big hill as we used it for coasting and sliding. The load became heavy even for Dad, and I moved to help. I was not much help but Dad let me think it was. We managed to arrive home at supper time and we were having lamb stew. As we sat down to eat Dad announced that we brought home many poles for our pasture fence and Henry was a big help. I was proud to do some work and receive some recognition. Dad was tough and did not hand out praise readily. That made it special as I still remember my day cutting poles for our pasture with Dad.