The Blacksmiths Shop

When I was young growing up on the farm, the spring thaw
meant it was time to get everything ready for the growing season. All
the farm equipment had to be made in good working order. Everything had
to be greased, oiled, and sharpened. This meant a visit to the
blacksmiths to get the plow points
sharpened.

 Plow points are made in the shape of
a wide V and attach to the plow that you use to get rid the weeds that
grow real close to the cotton plants. The ones the plow doesn't get you
have to use a hoe and do it by hand. I always went to the blacksmiths
with my Dad he needed me to ride shotgun.We never got our plow points
sharpened the same day we took them,my Dad and Mr Red the blacksmith
would talk for a long time about farming and this and that. All the
time they were talking he was working useing tongs to pull pieces of
red hot, metal out of the fire. He would hit the metal with a big
hammer to flatten it out some then he would stick it back in the fire
if it was finished he would sink it in a tub of water, it would hiss,
and spit until it cooled off.

 This blacksmith
was a small man with one arm much larger than the other one. His right
arm had a big muscle. Dad said it was from swinging that hammer all his
life. There was a girlie calendar, on the wall by the door I was
staring at it once he saw me looking and hung a shirt over it. He said
he believed she might be cold. When I grinned he knew he couldn't 
tease me anymore.

  Once he had a horse in
there he said it needed new shoes.I thought that was the funniest thing
I had ever heard picturing a horse with real shoes on his feet. The
main reason I liked to go to the blacksmiths shop is on the way back we
stopped at the Tastee Freeze, Daddy always got a cherry malted and I
got a cone. It was a secret that we shared  we didn't tell the
folks at home that we stopped for ice-cream.We would stop there again
when we went back to see Mr Red, and pick up the plow points. I
probably worried Daddy to death asking him everyday if he reckoned the
plow points was ready yet.