TR stories: Digging deep for The Good Stuff
Be careful where you dig — there just might an old barrel of The Good Stuff buried below. Andrew Knuth of Cumberland, Iowa, submitted this story:
I live on a farm outside of Cumberland in Cass County. The farm has been in my family since 1887. Growing up, I spent many summers there running around, playing with the livestock and dogs, and most importantly, fishing the ponds and streams around the farm. Of course, the bait of choice were big, fat, juicy nightcrawlers. In my quest for the best area for digging, I put holes in the ground almost everywhere I thought I could find worms.
My grandfather, who was born on the farm in 1900, cautioned me that if I encountered anything solid (wood, metal, or stone) I was to let him know as soon as possible. This intrigued me and I redoubled my efforts to find worms to fish with and look for anything unusual. To my disappointment, I never found anything like my grandfather described.
As I grew older, my grandfather passed away, and my mother was one of the only people I knew to tell me the family stories. One day in conversation before she passed on, I asked her what my grandfather could have been looking for. She got a gleam in her eye and told me that (legend had it) there was a barrel of whiskey buried someplace on the farm, and if ever found, would surely be the best whiskey ever! She did not know who buried it, but I suspect it was my great grandfather, as my grandfather was working out east during the Prohibition era.
As I look back, I remember that my grandfather often spoke of rye whiskey in glowing terms. I think that the lost barrel must have been The Good Stuff. I still live on the farm today and every time I dig a hole for a fence post I am mindful of my grandfather’s words. I can’t wait until my daughter is old enough to want to go fishing and dig for worms.
Sincerely,
Andrew Knuth
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