July 13, 2015
On the Fence

"Give me lands, lots of land under starry skies above, don't fence me in....." crooned Gene Autry in the 40s.  The song, penned by Cole Porter and made famous by a plethora of musical giants including Roy Rogers, Eddy Arnold and the Andrews Sisters, came to mind the other day while rolling along the country highway.

In days long ago, seems like every section of cropland was fenced in by miles and miles of sagging barbed wire.  This "no trespassing" district somehow always seemed to make me a bit uneasy and a little sad.  

But back in those days, barbed wire, which predated the ultimate electrical fence, was the rage.  Every farm had lots of it and every field was encircled by it.  Patented in the late 1800s, barbed wire, or "barb wire and bob wire", was widely used in the development of farmland in the wild west and beyond.

But did you know that not all barbed wire was created equal?  My Uncle Merrill collected barbed wire.  That was just one of his many collections, by the way.  Uncle Merrill's farm was and still is a time capsule filled with all manner of fascinating and mundane of objects.  Merrill's collection revealed the intricacies and artistic merit found in the many variations of bob wire. Almost like snowflakes, no two manufactured products were alike and as a collector, he took it upon himself to know his wire well. I can still recall him proudly displaying one after another length of wire, displaying the uniqueness that each possessed.

I mention the fencing because it seems like lately it has become a thing of the past.  Oh yes, there are still ghost-like fields with barb wire sagging around the perimeter that I've noticed mostly in the Dakotas, but for the most part, it's wide open space, much like in the days of the wild, wild west when wide open spaces ran for miles with no constraints.  

Of course, there is the matter of domain and ownership these days and trespassing is generally frowned upon.  I do honor those constraints, but I can proudly say that I also possess the knowledge of how to cross a barbed wire fence safely without ripping the seat of my britches or one's  calf for that matter.  Here's the trick:  You place one foot firmly on the bottom wire.  At the same time, lift the top wire and shimmy through the opening with little hesitation.  This I know to be the only and safest way to traverse a bob wire fence.

Don't even ask me why I have the need for that knowledge.  Suffice it to say I have spent many a childhood day on the farm traipsing around the back pasture and safely slipping through the tricky bob wire fences.

So, what is the trend these days?  It would seem that, while there are fences to be found, most have gone the way of progress.  Farming today isn't what it used to and the behemoth equipment used requires lots of space, wide open space,  to function.  

I'm content with that notion.  But what of all the discarded barbed wire fencing?  Where has it gone and who is tending it?  Well, were Uncle Merrill still alive, I'm sure he'd have amassed his share of it happily.  I can only hope that someone, somewhere is enjoying the unexpected intricacies of barb wire.