We lived at least half a mile from our nearest neighbors. And they lived about half a mile from their nearest neighbors. Few cars drove past our farm during the day, far fewer at night. Most often, the vehicle driving past would be a tractor. Our biggest excitement during the day would be the mailman. He came around noon, the same time that "All My Children", our mom's soap opera, was on. We noticed everyone who drove past our farm as we were always outside, and when we were inside, from noon to one, we had a large window that faced the road and included a view of the mailbox. So when the mailman came, one of us would run down to the mailbox, during a commercial. Our driveway wasn't that long, except during the winter, then, you'd try to slip on whatever pair of shoes was most available, and run without a coat on to the mailbox. Danny once dared us to run down to the mailbox, in the winter, barefoot. I remember I made it and it was awful. Once we learned to ride a bike, it was much faster and easier to make it back before the commercials were over.
At night when we'd take walks, our mom would make us hide in the ditch if any cars passed. We'd see the lights coming down the road and she'd yell for us to get in the ditch. It was very exciting and scary. I'd close my eyes so they wouldn't be reflected by the lights and give away our hiding spot. It was hard to keep whatever dog we had at the time in the ditch with us as they were usually car-chasing dogs, but if you petted them enough, they'd stay. I don't know why we'd hide in the ditch as anyone who passed was a neighbor or going to our house. If it was someone going to our house, we'd sometimes jump out of the ditch to stop them to talk to them, but often we wouldn't realize who it was until they'd turn into the driveway.
Bridget and Molly near the driveway. Please notice the sheep by the table in the background.
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