Cape Breton's Magazine

With that horse in Lake Ainslie, when we took his foot up and held it, he jumped and ji;imped and jumped • until you could wipe the white foam off him. We never beat him. And after I had all four feet shod, an old fellow came down and I thought he was going to commend me. He knew the horse • he was an elder in the church and I knew him well • a real dry wit about him. And when the horse was shod he came up, and I thought he was going to give me a medal • even if it was a wooden medal • be? cause I thought I had accomplished a feat that nobody else could do. And he saw the horse shod and he turned around and he said, "Aw, well," he said, "the horse was 20 years without shoes, you could have let it go the rest of its time without them. (Did you ever have a horse you couldn't shoe?) Never. Even today I'd launch a challenge to anybody. If I had a good as? sistant I know how to do it. Most of the blacksmith's wouldn't come to me • they were too jealous that I could do something that they couldn't do • but the guys that owned the horse would come. I did it wherever I went. I delighted in doing it. And you know, my brethren in the church thought it was disgraceful for a minister to do that. I was into everything. I could not only shoe horses but I had experience in carpentry and painting and bricklaying • just do everything. I wouldn't want any? body to think I am a professor or anything but I have a wide range of experience • and I love horses. When I was young, before I went in the ministry, I did this. I enjoy? ed doing it. I was strong. People said it wasn't becoming of me to shoe horses. It wasn't becoming of me to go out with a rifle and shoot a deer, or go up on the roof of a barn or house and paint and shingle and do the like of that. Christ ministered to the physical needs of the people when he was on earth and I won the confidence of people. I built more than one barn for people who couldn't afford to build a barn. I was ambitious and strong and conscientious and nothing was too hard for me to tack? le. And when I got in the ministry I couldn't give it up. I like to trap. I like to hunt. I like to shoe horses. I can put up a bluff at painting and car? pentry work. And I'm a first-class bar? ber. Some condemned me. Some commended me for it and even named their children after me. There's a minister from Scotland came to Canada. He was a great minister and he • loved deer and I loved to hunt. So I was at Middle River at the time. "Charlie," he said with his Scottish accent, "Where can I get a deer?" He knew I was pretty good at shooting deer. And there was a Presbytery meeting the next day at Sydney. I said, "You're not giving me much time. I have to go to the meeting tomorrow. But I'll get up early and I'll go at daybreak to an orchard." I said, "You do the pray? ing and I'll do the hunting." All Rooms Overlook Sydney Harbour Vista Motel Kill's Road, Sydney, N.S. RBSBRVAXIQN NUMBER: 539-6550 Zenith Number: 07940, Anywhere in*N.S. A New Record of Traditional & Original Songs Dennis & Lori Cox THE WELCOME TABLE $5.00 plus 500 postage Write Cox. Capstick. Victoria Cty, N.S. Where Better Service Costs No More MacLeod's RNA Baddeek SYDNEY SHIP SUPPLY cA'Bumer' Creed Ibelieve a man's greatest po?8e??> sion is his dignity and tiiat no calling bestows this more abun? dantly than farming. Ibelieve hard work and honest . sweat are the building blocks of a person's character. I believe &at; farming; despite its hardships and disappointments' is the most honest and honor- aUe way a man can speod his days on this earth. Ibelieve farming nurtures the close family ties tiiat make liife rich in wmy money can*t buy.?? I believe my children are learning values that will last a lifetime and can be learned, in no other way. I believe farming provides ediica' tion for life and that no other occupation teaches so much about birth, growth and matu? rity in such a variety of ways. I believe many of the best things in life are indeed free: the splen? dor of a sunrise, tb?? raptive of wide open spaces, the exhilarat? ing sight <' your land greening eaoa spcingi Ibelieve true happiness comes from watcfasag your crops ripen in tiie field, your diildren grow tall in tiie suiw your n'kole late- ily feel the pride that springs from their shared experience. I believe that by my toil I am giv- .ing more to the world than I am taking from it, an honor that does not come to all men. I believe my life will be measured ultimately by what I have done for my fellowman, and by this standard I fear no judgment Ibelieve when a man grows old and sums up his day% he should be able to stand tall and feel pride in the life he's lived. Ibelieve in farming because it makes all tiiis possible. Sydney and Port Hawkesbury