Will the Chicken be with Grandma?

About the Book

I did not start this project with the intention of publishing my stories. I started recording stories at the insistence of my family. My family did not want them lost. Once the number of recorded events reached 200, we decided to publish a book. I have lived these stories and have told them many times. These are not finely polished accounts; they are written like I talk.

This book is not full of helpful hints for pioneer living. It contains no self-help or personality improvement chapters. This is not a book about religion or politics. A few recipes might be found hiding somewhere in the pages. This is because food is one of my favorite things to eat.

I have been blessed with a wonderful long-term memory. I remember happenings from my pre - walking and talking days. I have recorded memories from my first fourteen years, the depression and drought years through WW II (1932 - 1946). It is made up of my life on the farm, my family especially my brother, school, church, and entertainment. I tell about the wonderful old neighbors, our work, our play, and our fights. It was a time when we made our own fun and grew our own food, almost living off of the land. It was a great time in history to grow up, but I don't describe it as "The good old days."

About the Author

James F. [Jim] Weber was born in 1932, on a small farm in the dairy country west of Minneapolis. Shipping milk or cream to the city was the source of income for most farmers in the area. The country was in the Great Depression, and money was scarce. We lived on what we could grow on the farm.

The early years were filled with play and helping at any projects around the farm.

The school years were a time when a color blind kid was supposed to color the grass green. There were twelve choices in the crayon box. Red violet worked most of the time.

Following high school Jim completed a trade school course in electricity, electronics and refrigeration. Jim enlisted in the army for three years. He completed a power equipment repair course. The next eighteen months were spent in wartime Korea. After being discharged from the army Jim tried a mechanical engineering course. There was more reading and math than he could absorb. Jim worked in the engineering departments at several companies. He attended night school each year in the mechanical area.

In 1974 he accepted the position of Fluid Power Instructor at Hennepin Technical College, Eden Prairie, MN. He retired in 1995. Retirement allowed time for many fun projects including flower gardening and writing the stories found in this book. Jim will never have enough time to finish all of the projects that he would like to do. There will not be sufficient time to travel to all of the places that interest him, or to build the museum he dreams of. He hopes that you love to read the stories as much as he enjoyed writing them.