What Ever Happened to Baxter Place?

Realistic Fiction- involves stories about people and ev3ents that are true to life and that could really happen. discounted-with lowered prices expire- to come to an end featured- having as the main attraction installed- to put in place for use or service produce- farm products such as fresh fruit or vegetables seasonal- ripe at a certain time necessities- things that are needed

Baxter place was located off an old dirt road called Flatland Road outside a small town in Maryland. This road stretched three miles. The farm belonged to the Baxter family and everyone called it Baxter Place. It had acres and acres of fields, meadows, and woodland. Cows grazed in the East Meadow and ducks and geese swam in the pond nearby. There was a big white farmhouse and in front of it was a soybean field that made a pretty blanket of green in the spring and summer. The farm spread out over three hundred acres. The south field was the biggest and flattest and was planted in rotation with corn one year and barley the next. The east field had alfalfa; the west field was the smallest where the Baxter’s planted for their own crops. The fields were divided by woods.

This family had four family members- Sara- big, strong woman with a friendly way, Pete-tall and wiry man with skin toughened and tanned from being outdoors all year round, Sue Ann- oldest child- took after her mother’s side and pate- youngster named after his dad but was called pee Wee. He was tiny when he was born he fit in a shoebox.

The Baxter Place was a business- a farm business and a way of life. Nothing kept Pete from the work in the fields of the big dairy barn that had milking stalls for 20 cows at a time. Pete knew every crop, every one of their hundred cows by names and everything that happened on the farm. Farming was more than any regular full time job and he liked being outside year round. Sara raised the chickens in the chicken house and collected about a hundred eggs every day and drove them to Hammil’s Country Market to be sold. She also grew vegetables and the ones that didn’t get eaten right away got canned and preserved for the winter or taken to market. Sara kept records of everything that was bought or sold for the farm- she was the bookkeeper and the business-minded one in the family.

Jim and Wally were the hired hands- farmers who work at farming other people’s land. Jim was a crackerjack repairman when the tractor and equipment broke down and Wally knew the planting season like the back of his hand. He could small a late spring frost in the air. Jim and Wally came every morning at six and stayed late in the evening. They had worked with Pete for 15 years. Sue Ann did her chore before the bus came. She cleaned the calves’ stalls, fed the chicke4ns and helped with the milking and set the table for breakfast which came after the chores. Pee Wee got away with a little less in the way of work. He fed the big watchdogs and cats, cleaned the chicken house and helped Sara set out breakfast for everyone.

Everyone said that Baxter Place was the prettiest, neatest farm they had ever seen and the Baxter’s were some of the nicest folks they knew. They were right until the day the man from the market stopped by. Jess Hammil owned the farmers’ market where Sara took her eggs and produce. Sara, Pete and Jess were all in school together. One day he went to see the Baxter’s the day he learned the lease on his small vegetable market in town wasn’t going to be renewed. A fancy new building was going up and he couldn’t afford the rent. Jess thought he could buy his own land so something like this wouldn’t happen again. He saved the money so maybe the Baxters would be willing to part with that small west field. Jess could not only have his own market but could grow much of his own seasonal produce instead of depending on the farmers. The field was right off the main road so people would stop and buy. Sara and Pete thought they would save this land for Sue Ann and Pee Wee but Sue Ann was headed for Forestry College in a year and planned to move later on to the mountains where her work would be and Pee Wee had his heart set on being a mathematician and said he was allergic to field work. The Baxter’s sold the land to Jess and Sara thought it would be nice to have a market for sales so close by.

Within a year, Jess opened a new market. He planted his land with seasonal produce crops. Soon word got around that the state wanted to widen and resurface the Main road so Jess knew this meant more business for him. Every year Emma Price from Homestead Realty Company made her call to the Baxters and every year it was the same- the real estate company wanted to purchase and develop the meadow and woodland area around the pond and would the Baxter’s settle? Every year they greeted Emma Price politely but their answer was always no.

This year the corn harvest was a total los and there had been too much rain during the planting time and a dry spell came when they needed rain. Corn was their livelihood and without the crop’s sale the bills would go unpaid. They would barley pay for the farm’s necessities that year. They owed the bank a mortgage on the house and the land plus money they had borrowed for seed and a new tractor. They insisted they would not part with the meadow, pond, and woods. They didn’t like getting into debt any more if they could help it. When Emma Price called this year, the Baxter’s told them they could buy the rolling east field. This was the toughest decision they’d ever had to make. The Baxter’s decided they could put the alfalfa in the soybean field and just have less soybean crop and could sell off some of the older cows in the herd but the milk-producing cows wouldn’t go hungry.

The Baxter’s signed over the east field to Emma Price’s company. They were paid without delay and the Baxter’s paid for their bad year and looked forward to better ones. Bulldozers were learning the land and the new houses looked pretty and comfortable and the people who moved in seemed friendly. It was strange to see the alfalfa field planted with houses. Several years of good crops followed and things seemed back to normal even though more and more houses were being built all around. Sun Ann won a partial scholarship to the forestry college and everyone was proud of her but missed her. Pee Wee started high school when the milking problem came up. Pee Wee had to pitch in and take Sue Ann’s place. Jim and Wally still came at the crack of dawn but Jim was getting on in years and it took him longer to get the cows milked. A lot of local farmers were p putting new automatic equipment- milking parlors that had elevated stalls for cows and tubes that lead to the main tank. The Baxter’s relied on the old methods and the cost for the new setup was more than they could swing so Pee wee did his best to help out. Wally never missed a day but he was no longer up to heavy work, so Sara pitched in more often.

It became hard and harder to complete with the milk production of neighboring farmers who had installed milking parlors to handle larger herds. Milk sales were barley brining in enough to cover costs, so it wasn’t long before the Baxter’s began to sell the rest of the cow herd. Soon only five cows grazed in the meadow. The milking barn was practically empty but the Baxter’s took comfort in knowing that there milk and butter on the kitchen table was not store bought and it was their own. That Spring, George Stillwell came to see Pete and Sarah Baxter about using the pond and meadow for sports land. He didn’t want to buy the land but proposed leasing the area for eight years.

George Stillwell wanted to put up rustic cabin and would get rented to hunters during the fall and winter seasons. The pond was a safe distance from the housing development. The whole area filled up with hunters during the duck and goose seasons. The Baxter’s always let some hunters on their land so they didn’t think a few more would hurt and they weren’t giving up any land but they were being paid for it. This extra money would help fill in the loss of milk money and could help them save for Pee Wee’s college. Sara agreed to this idea. The next year, the cabin went up.

Pee Wee went off to engineering school. Jim retired but still came around to tinker with the machinery and complain about how the new tractor wasn’t up to the old model. Things soon returned to almost normal. Pete and Sara had a smaller place but it was big enough for them and Wallly to handle. They still had the south field for corn and barley and the front field for the other crops. Sara had her chickens and her garden. Life was a bit different with the changes and Sun Ann and Pee Wee away but things stayed the same for quite a while.

On3e day Jess Hammill sold to a developer, a big developer and Jess’s country market and his land were bulldozed to make a Shopping Mall that featured a giant supermarket, a discount drugstore, a dress boutique, a chain department store, and other small shops. Soon Homestead Realty made the Baxter’s an offer on the big south field. They time they didn’t have to sell but Wally was bout to retire and Pete and Sara were no longer up to the heavy work. They could look for new hired hands, but it didn’t seem the same. The offer was tempting and they accepted. One thing led to another and the man who’d rented the pond made an offer to buy because the lease was about to expire and the Baxter’s saw no reason to hold onto it. The cabin was then turned into a Rustic Manor and Motor Lodge and tennis clubs. The Baxter Place was not half of what it had been but there were still a few trees left that acted as dividers that tried to keep the Baxter Place separate.

Sara and Pete still had the front field that lead to the old farmhouse. They had some money in the bank but folks couldn’t stay Baxter Place was the prettiest, neatest place around. People could say the Baxter’s were some of the nicest people they’d ever known and that had no changed but so many things had. “What ever happened to the old Baxter Place?’ somebody asked and nobody could quite say, not even the Baxters.