Relative Something

A few days ago I enjoyed the pleasure of visiting with cousins that I only get to see on rare occasions, and a couple of my siblings that I see only slightly more often, it seems. One particular bit of history that we share involves a 477 acre farm called “Intervale Ranch” that our grandfather purchased in the early 1950s. Though our grandfather purchased the property as an investment, my father ended up talking his dad into letting him actively farm for a few years. I always describe it as having pretty much been a no-risk proposition. The property was so close to the expanding ring of communities that would become suburbs of Minneapolis (MN), that its days as a farm were numbered. Even if Dad ran the farm into the ground, so to speak, it would not be a failure; in fact, it could actually be framed a success, as that was already the destiny determined.

As bits and pieces of memories from our days on the farm property as kids are shared, the inherent value of our stories get revealed. My sister suggested that we encourage family members to write some of their memories to be compiled together as something of a farm memoir. Lo and behold, guess who already did? I have slowly been in process of writing a variety of memories, from a variety of different angles, some historical, some for more personal reflection and introspection, and some as stories about my parents.

In order to share what I have already written, with cousins spread around the country, and hopefully to inspire others in my family to write their memories, I am going to post some of the stories here at Relative Something… some vignettes from my memory of life on this farm. With luck, I will get around to providing some back-story to provide context for those of you who are less familiar with tales of the Hays Farm. Time will tell.

These were probably taken sometime in the ’40s or ’50s, first on the left looking northwest and then on the right looking due west.

I did a cursory online search and found a document about the history of Edina’s (MN) Braemar Park & Golf Course, which is what the bulk of the farm acres were to become. It contains some detail that doesn’t match the way I have heard it told, but it is precious for the references it contains about ‘Hays farm.’

Excerpt: The Search For A Permanent Name

Although the Hays farm site had temporarily retained the “Intervale” name, most people continued to refer to the hilly acres as “the Hays farm.” In the five years between the purchase of the land and the opening of the golf course, a number of other possible names were actively discussed and debated. http://www.ci.edina.mn.us/PDFs/AboutTown/L4-91_AboutTown_2007Spring.pdf

Watch for stories here, about the farm, in the days and weeks and probably months that follow, inbetween rantings about the Tour de France and ‘Words on Images’ and whatever else ends up seeming somehow relative at the time. You know the drill.