CHAMPAIGN, IL (CHAMBANA TODAY)- It’s a narrow strip of land. Not noticeable hardly at all, and sometimes present farmers question the use, but to me, it’s the most valuable strip of land in the entire world. WHY? It’s called “the lane”. It’s a strip of land covered with grass now that’s about 20 feet wide and a half mile long. To the back of the farm up the hill. Now a “hill” in Illinois and Indiana doesn’t mean much to those who know what a “hill” is. A hired man on the farm once said, ‘Heck fire, that’s not a hill, that’s a rise’. Given he was from the Blue Ridge Mountains of Tennessee. “The Lane”, why so valuable you may ask. The purpose of the original lane has come and gone, and it used to have a fence on each side to the top of the hill, with three gaps in each side on the way to the back of the farm. (Now gaps will be discussed in a later column, I promise)

Why is this Country Lane so valuable? It’s because it holds memories of times past, and present moments still. Victories, births, successful safe crib filling, twin lambs, good yields, and the view from the top of the hill that truly had to be heaven as you look down on the homestead. Yes, it also had its many hard walks, long and tearful, with deaths, disappointments hurt (both mental and physical hurts), and of course the many speeches of I’m sorry. For me, it also held many life lessons. Most of which came with a lonely walk up the lane, with decisions to be made, a heart to patch, a pond of tears to be shed, and yes final goodbyes that to this day have the same sting that they had the first day.

This column every other week will be just that. Rememberances of a life on the farm Then and Now. It will include many sits on the rusty lawn chairs that to this day remain at the top of the hill. Up the Lane. We will try to paint a picture of the things a boy, a teenager, a young man, a man, a son, a father, a grandfather, a great-grandfather, and just Gale saw and experienced. Some will be the beauty of God’s sunrises and the awesome amazement of God’s hand as the red of the sunset cast’s shadows and darkness on The Lane. We will try our very best to capture the unbelievable experiences of farm life.

Good and Bad, Mountain Tops and Valleys, Shouts of Joy and screams of sorrow.

Also, we will try to from time to time to answer questions you may have regarding living as a farmer, the farm life, the raising of kids on the farm the experiences of livestock, and the joys of raising them for what they were put on this earth to do. Ultimately THE LANE will be a touch of a finger in the pool of still water and the ripples it produces. We hope you enjoy our time together, and always welcome comments and questions.

Thank you for being with me on the Journey UP THE COUNTRY LANE

Gale Cunningham

WYXY Classic Farm Director