Randy and I would churn without much bellyachin' because the rewards were just amazingly high.

Every Saturday Mom would tell us how much cream/butter she needed and we'd get to work on it because she'd start baking. Fresh butter on fresh bread is pretty darn special. And the Ice Cream was even better.

And there was cash involved. We got to sell the excess cream. Every other Sunday we'd drop a cream can off at the railroad depot (on the way to church, don't you know) and by that Friday there'd be a check in the mail.

The Mennonites where I grew up were mechanized. They worked together a lot but weren't communal at all. There's a pair of brothers I knew pretty well that once owned the Flying W Rodeo stock. That's a whole 'nother story.