The Runaway Horse Cart

Early this week I found an email surprise in my inbox, a note from someone who had seen one of my old blogs and was writing to ask if the "Uncle Leo" mentioned could possibly be the Leo Shafer he had known growing up. Our notes have left me remembering the stories Dad told of his days on his uncle's farm. I don't think I've shared this one in detail before, so here it is.


Up on the family farm in Angelica, NY was an old horse cart that my dad and Uncle Art liked to play with. One day they decided to ride it down the old dirt road with the understanding that Arthur would do the steering and Dad would work the brake, the brake being a large rock held against the wheel.
They started off down the road, obviously unnoticed by any of their aunts, uncles or grandparents. Of course the road was all downhill from the farm into the town of Angelica, and the old horse cart quickly picked up speed. It wasn't long before Arthur hollered to Dad to put on the brake and they found that a large rock held against the wheel of a speeding horse cart does not make for a sufficient brake. The cart continued it's wayward descent, gathering speed as it went. Thankfully, Arthur was able to keep the cart upright and had the sense to turn off the road and into a hayfield somewhere along the way. It was one of those stories dad always laughed at even though he knew things could have turned out really bad. I couldn't help but smile whenever he told it because he always laughed so hard.

PS. Yes, this is the cart. That is Dad on the left with the blonder hair, with Uncle Art on the right.