Can You Sleep on A Windy Night

[Allabord4Jah]

Someone on here ( I can not recall who) posted this talk.  It was worded a little different, but this one was made back in 1976.   Maybe this will help refresh other's memory, certainly not mine!  SORRY!

 

Can You Sleep On A Windy Night

 

This i the brother who gave the talk  - Charles Sinutko, the brothers said they aren't to certain if it was him.  It was given in this place in 76:  1976 St. Louis MO Arnold MO, Mehlville MO, according to the site.  

 

The one I heard 30 years ago, sounded broken up, and hard to follow at times.  It sounded like there were waves crashing outside the hall, perhaps it was near a beach of some sort.  I haven't played this one yet.  Maybe some of you can. 

 

If I posted this in the wrong place, put it where it belongs, I wasn't to sure.

 

 

[feather]

one of my fav talks. 

 

my copy is "Can You Sleep When the Wind Blows?"

 

same talk no doubt.

timely message...

'are you who you want to be when the end comes'

 

      

[JudyO]

Is it in the current outline list of talks that brothers can give?

This was really good! I seem to remember it, but it has been a while. I wouldn't mind hearing it next Sunday.....Thanks for posting the link!

[Allabord4Jah]

am not sure about some brothers list, cause someone sent me this on email about 5 years ago.  So am not sure. 

[WilliamChew]

Wonderful story about Farmer Brown and the sleepy worker John whose only work qualification was "I can sleep on a windy night".😅

 

Good lesson on the importance of preparedness which allows us to sleep well at night without worries.

[jwhess]

The link above no longer works for me, so I can't compare talks.  We had a Circuit Overseer give a similar talk around 1970 when I was in the Huntington, Indiana congregation.

[WilliamChew]

The file I have says: "Durell JR - Can you sleep on a windy night". From the talk, its seems like it was given in Los Angeles in 1973 due to his mentioning its 2 years before 1975.

[Tia]

Wonderful talk!

[WilliamChew]

I've reproduced the Farmer Brown experience below as I have 2 questions about it:

 

1. When referring to the midwest, is he referring to the farming life in the countryside? Since I live in a city I don't know what is difficult about farming life. Is it the constant attention that must be paid to the crops and animals as they don't take a holiday.

 

2. John was hired from the pool hall. Is this something common in the midwest? To hire workers from the pool hall? 😅

 

Spoiler

Now this story has to do with Farmer Brown, and Farmer Brown lived in the Midwest.

Now have any of you here in the audience lived in the Midwest at all, or any of you from that area?

One or several? All right, well then you'll understand the story.

It has to do with Farmer Brown, and he lived in the Midwest with Mrs. Brown.

They had a nice little farm, and it was the fall of the year.

So in the fall of the year, you all know that there's lots of work to be done during the harvest time, so they went to town to see if they could get some hired help.

And when they got into town, they found that they had done something wrong. They had got there a little late, and so all the good hired help had been already taken by the other farmers roundabout.

No one was left in town except one young fellow they found standing over by the pool hall.

It looked like he was lonesome, and no one seemed to want to hire him.

So they decided they better go over and see if they could hire him because they needed help badly.

So they went over and asked his name, and they found out his name was John.

And they asked John, well, Farmer Brown said, what are your qualifications for working on a farm during the fall of the year?

He said, well, I can sleep on a windy night.

Farmer Brown thought, well, those are certainly no qualifications for working on a farm.

We want workers, not sleepers.

But Mrs. Brown proddedFarmer Brown and said, well, Farmer Brown, we'd better hire him because that's all there is.

There are no other workers, and he looks big and strong, and he was.

Had lots of calluses in his hands, well tanned.

It looked like he was a worker.

So Mrs. Brown said, now, look, John, we need workers.

What are your qualifications?

He said, well, I can sleep on a windy night.

He wouldn't change his story.

So they decided to, after looking at each other with a puzzled look, they decided to hire him because that's all there was.

So they hired John, took him out and explained his duties to him, and showed him where he would sleep and all.

John went right to bed, but first thing in the morning, he was up out there doing the chores before breakfast.

He was out in the field all day, worked hard, didn't seem to do anything wrong.

But they watched him real close because they thought he sure was a strange one.

And they watched him real close, and they could find nothing wrong with what he did.

And they couldn't understand what John possibly meant by saying, I can sleep on a windy night.

They couldn't understand it at all.

And they noticed something strange about him, though.

He was always a little late coming in in the evening after doing the chores for supper, and he always kept Farmer Brown waiting.

Farmer Brown was in there ready for supper, and old John was hokey pokey coming into his supper table.

But they thought, well, maybe that's just John.

And everything went along real fine for about two weeks.

And then all of a sudden, one day while they were out in the field, the temperature seemed to be building all day long.

And about one or two o'clock in the afternoon and three, the temperature was unbearable.

Got up to around 110 (deg F), and there wasn't a breath of air moving. Deathly still.

Now, any of you who have lived in the Midwest, when it gets extremely hot during the day, and deathly still, not a breath of air moving, what does that tell you is about to take place?

There's a storm a-brewing.

That's right.

And Farmer Brown could sense it.

And he was nervous as a cat all day long, just edgy and worried about all the things he had to be done and so on.

But it didn't seem to bother John a bit.

John was just as calm as he could be.

And then when they got ready to do their chores, they were in there doing their chores.

And John was still always late coming in for supper.

And Farmer Brown was edgy tonight especially, and he was cursing under his breath, that no-good John always dragging his feet and takes so long to get in here, we got to get our supper ready.

He was so worried about everything, and he just paced up and down.

And finally, John came in and they ate their supper.

And right away, John, of course, he went off to bed like usual.

He worked hard during the day, so he was tired.

And Farmer Brown, he could hardly get to bed.

He was so worried and so nervous.

Finally, he decided after he looked out the window before he went to bed, he could smell the storm in the air.

Just smell it.

You know what it's like.

You can almost taste it.

It's so close.

And so he finally decided to go to bed, and he went to bed.

And when he finally got to sleep, the storm hit.

The house just rocked on the foundation.

The shutters banged and the shingles flew, and Farmer Brown was out of bed like a shot.

Grabbed his trousers to put them on, and he told his wife, you get up there and get that John out of bed.

We've got to get out there and see if we can save something.

We're going to lose everything we've got in this storm.

Oh, he was worried.

So he got his trousers on, and the wife ran up the stairs and banged on the door and said, John, get up.

You've got to help Farmer Brown.

And they couldn't get John out of bed.

She banged on the door some more and said, John, you've got to get up and help Farmer Brown.

But they couldn't get John out of bed.

And Farmer Brown slipped on his shoes, and he ran outside cursing that no good John.

Why did we hire him in the first place?

And he ran out there to see what he could save, because he could see he was going to lose everything he had.

The chickens, the barn, the cattle, the sheep, the whole thing were going to be blown away in the storm.

So he ran over to the chicken house first thing.

It was the closest, and he was going to close the door and window so he wouldn't lose all his best laying hens.

But when he got there, he noticed that the door was closed, and the windows were closed, and the old hens were all inside there on the roost with the old rooster just as happy as could be.

Then they decided he better run over to the barn and see if he could save the barn, because if the door was left open in the barn, the wind would blow in and blow off the roof, and he'd lose all of his prize milking stock.

But when he got around to the barn, the barn door was already closed.

The windows were closed, and the old cows were laying down just chewing their cud.

Then he thought about the haystack they'd put up that day.

He could see that haystack blowing all over the field again.

So he ran around the barn to see if he could tie it down with the tarpaulin, and he got around behind the barn, and why, the haystack was already tied down.

Then he thought about his prized sheep. He had a whole flock of sheep here getting them ready for the fair.

All the ewes were all curried, and the old ram looking just at their best, and he could see them wandering off in the storm and being lost and losing the blue ribbon at the fair.

Worried sick about those sheep, and he ran around the barn to see what he could do about those sheep, and what do you think he saw?

Why, they were all in the sheep pen, just bedded down so cozy and all locked up tight.

Then old Farmer Brown got the idea what John meant when John said, I can sleep on a windy night.

 

[Tia]

Brother William,

Nice summary!    

[GeordieGirl]

'Can You Sleep when the Wind Blows'.

Wonderful talk.

The copy I have is by an English brother and he gave it a year or two after 9/11 but I can't remember his name. I'll have to look it up.  I have listened to it many times though not for a while. 

[jwhess]

1 hour ago, WilliamChew said:

I've reproduced the Farmer Brown experience below as I have 2 questions about it:

 

1. When referring to the midwest, is he referring to the farming life in the countryside? Since I live in a city I don't know what is difficult about farming life. Is it the constant attention that must be paid to the crops and animals as they don't take a holiday.

 

2. John was hired from the pool hall. Is this something common in the midwest? To hire workers from the pool hall? 😅

 

  Reveal hidden contents

Now this story has to do with Farmer Brown, and Farmer Brown lived in the Midwest.

Now have any of you here in the audience lived in the Midwest at all, or any of you from that area?

One or several? All right, well then you'll understand the story.

It has to do with Farmer Brown, and he lived in the Midwest with Mrs. Brown.

They had a nice little farm, and it was the fall of the year.

So in the fall of the year, you all know that there's lots of work to be done during the harvest time, so they went to town to see if they could get some hired help.

And when they got into town, they found that they had done something wrong. They had got there a little late, and so all the good hired help had been already taken by the other farmers roundabout.

No one was left in town except one young fellow they found standing over by the pool hall.

It looked like he was lonesome, and no one seemed to want to hire him.

So they decided they better go over and see if they could hire him because they needed help badly.

So they went over and asked his name, and they found out his name was John.

And they asked John, well, Farmer Brown said, what are your qualifications for working on a farm during the fall of the year?

He said, well, I can sleep on a windy night.

Farmer Brown thought, well, those are certainly no qualifications for working on a farm.

We want workers, not sleepers.

But Mrs. Brown proddedFarmer Brown and said, well, Farmer Brown, we'd better hire him because that's all there is.

There are no other workers, and he looks big and strong, and he was.

Had lots of calluses in his hands, well tanned.

It looked like he was a worker.

So Mrs. Brown said, now, look, John, we need workers.

What are your qualifications?

He said, well, I can sleep on a windy night.

He wouldn't change his story.

So they decided to, after looking at each other with a puzzled look, they decided to hire him because that's all there was.

So they hired John, took him out and explained his duties to him, and showed him where he would sleep and all.

John went right to bed, but first thing in the morning, he was up out there doing the chores before breakfast.

He was out in the field all day, worked hard, didn't seem to do anything wrong.

But they watched him real close because they thought he sure was a strange one.

And they watched him real close, and they could find nothing wrong with what he did.

And they couldn't understand what John possibly meant by saying, I can sleep on a windy night.

They couldn't understand it at all.

And they noticed something strange about him, though.

He was always a little late coming in in the evening after doing the chores for supper, and he always kept Farmer Brown waiting.

Farmer Brown was in there ready for supper, and old John was hokey pokey coming into his supper table.

But they thought, well, maybe that's just John.

And everything went along real fine for about two weeks.

And then all of a sudden, one day while they were out in the field, the temperature seemed to be building all day long.

And about one or two o'clock in the afternoon and three, the temperature was unbearable.

Got up to around 110 (deg F), and there wasn't a breath of air moving. Deathly still.

Now, any of you who have lived in the Midwest, when it gets extremely hot during the day, and deathly still, not a breath of air moving, what does that tell you is about to take place?

There's a storm a-brewing.

That's right.

And Farmer Brown could sense it.

And he was nervous as a cat all day long, just edgy and worried about all the things he had to be done and so on.

But it didn't seem to bother John a bit.

John was just as calm as he could be.

And then when they got ready to do their chores, they were in there doing their chores.

And John was still always late coming in for supper.

And Farmer Brown was edgy tonight especially, and he was cursing under his breath, that no-good John always dragging his feet and takes so long to get in here, we got to get our supper ready.

He was so worried about everything, and he just paced up and down.

And finally, John came in and they ate their supper.

And right away, John, of course, he went off to bed like usual.

He worked hard during the day, so he was tired.

And Farmer Brown, he could hardly get to bed.

He was so worried and so nervous.

Finally, he decided after he looked out the window before he went to bed, he could smell the storm in the air.

Just smell it.

You know what it's like.

You can almost taste it.

It's so close.

And so he finally decided to go to bed, and he went to bed.

And when he finally got to sleep, the storm hit.

The house just rocked on the foundation.

The shutters banged and the shingles flew, and Farmer Brown was out of bed like a shot.

Grabbed his trousers to put them on, and he told his wife, you get up there and get that John out of bed.

We've got to get out there and see if we can save something.

We're going to lose everything we've got in this storm.

Oh, he was worried.

So he got his trousers on, and the wife ran up the stairs and banged on the door and said, John, get up.

You've got to help Farmer Brown.

And they couldn't get John out of bed.

She banged on the door some more and said, John, you've got to get up and help Farmer Brown.

But they couldn't get John out of bed.

And Farmer Brown slipped on his shoes, and he ran outside cursing that no good John.

Why did we hire him in the first place?

And he ran out there to see what he could save, because he could see he was going to lose everything he had.

The chickens, the barn, the cattle, the sheep, the whole thing were going to be blown away in the storm.

So he ran over to the chicken house first thing.

It was the closest, and he was going to close the door and window so he wouldn't lose all his best laying hens.

But when he got there, he noticed that the door was closed, and the windows were closed, and the old hens were all inside there on the roost with the old rooster just as happy as could be.

Then they decided he better run over to the barn and see if he could save the barn, because if the door was left open in the barn, the wind would blow in and blow off the roof, and he'd lose all of his prize milking stock.

But when he got around to the barn, the barn door was already closed.

The windows were closed, and the old cows were laying down just chewing their cud.

Then he thought about the haystack they'd put up that day.

He could see that haystack blowing all over the field again.

So he ran around the barn to see if he could tie it down with the tarpaulin, and he got around behind the barn, and why, the haystack was already tied down.

Then he thought about his prized sheep. He had a whole flock of sheep here getting them ready for the fair.

All the ewes were all curried, and the old ram looking just at their best, and he could see them wandering off in the storm and being lost and losing the blue ribbon at the fair.

Worried sick about those sheep, and he ran around the barn to see what he could do about those sheep, and what do you think he saw?

Why, they were all in the sheep pen, just bedded down so cozy and all locked up tight.

Then old Farmer Brown got the idea what John meant when John said, I can sleep on a windy night.

 

Br. William, that is a summary of the talk I remember.  In the version I heard, the Farmer went to town to hire someone and it was the week of the county fair.  And like your story, only John was available (no "pool hall" in my story).

 

As to your questions, [1] here in the "Midwest" USA, the countryside is dotted with various types of farms of various sizes.  The story is about a 'typical' family farm with house, barn and out-buildings.  Various animals used to kept for raising to sell, managing for products (like wool-sheep, milk-cows, eggs-chickens) or they might be raised for slaughter for food.  If cows are involved, they must be milked twice a day and they used to be milked by hand.  Eggs have to be gathered a couple of times a day.  There is the feeding, watering and possibly grooming the animals.  The upkeep on the mechanical equipment, the maintenance and repair of the many buildings, the planting, cultivation and harvesting of crops for sale or livestock feed is seasonal (but continuous).  In days gone by, it was rare that a farm family got a "vacation" or an off the farm "trip".

 

As to [2] concerning the pool hall, my version of the story did not have that in it.  Small towns and villages might have such an establishment.  Generally it was considered as a lower quality of entertainment perhaps part of a bar.  they story we were told was the farmer going to the county fair to find an employee.  Such fairs are common in the rurals.  They provide chances to see and buy animals, watch equipment or animal demonstrations, sample local produce or farm products and in general immerse ones-self in the neighborhood country life.  It may include entertainment (like mechanical rides or even a small circus).

 

Now I am going to commit myself and say that the story (talk) was based on an older Watchtower article that my CO shared with me.  I am going to guess it was somewhere between 1965-1970.  I will try to spend some time on it latter this week...❤️

[Parale]

On 2/15/2023 at 12:44 PM, WilliamChew said:

1. When referring to the midwest, is he referring to the farming life in the countryside? Since I live in a city I don't know what is difficult about farming life. Is it the constant attention that must be paid to the crops and animals as they don't take a holiday.

 

2. John was hired from the pool hall. Is this something common in the midwest? To hire workers from the pool hall? 😅

 

I undertand that this particular illustration, with all its details, was from a talk given in the mid-1970s, so I believe that, in general terms, some of the specifics have to be viewed regarding what it was like in the 1950s and 1960s, even perhaps 1930s and 1940s. The talk was also apparently given in Missouri, which is a Midwest State itself.

 

In terms of popular culture, probably the closest thing would be the Judy Garland film The Wizard of Oz? It is set in Kansas - another MIdwest State - and remember how quickly the weather changed in that movie! (There is also some of John Steinbeck 's stuff, though he was writing about the California experience predominately, ie the West, rather than Midwest).

 

Likewise hiring worker from the 'pool hall' - at that time that was basically the only entertainment, that and the bar... thus it was the place guys would hang out at, and hope to get some work... here you're talking about itinerant workers... land owners and farm owners knew they could go here if they needed hired help. (also the speaker may have felt it was more tactful to say 'pool hall' rather than 'bar' where alcohol was served etc.)

 

In terms of popular culture, think of the cowboy Westerns when a guy goes to the town's bar in search of a couple of guys to ride with him, trek with cattle, or do something, similiar thing here really.

Edited February 17, 2023 by Parale