There are stalls to be cleaned, wood to be carried in, hay to be unloaded, animals to be watered. They are learning the Schindler work ethic. The Schindler kids are athletic, even though they don't play soccer or other organized sports. What they do is chase hogs, run after cows, climb trees, jump fences. Some nights they're in the barn at 2 a.m., sitting on 5-gallon buckets, quietly waiting to watch the birth of baby pigs.
Warm weather means cookouts and hayrides and greased pig contests.
They need only walk over a hill to canoe, fish and swim. And there's that unfinished treehouse in the woods. Mud squishing from under his boots, Lou Schindler treks to a secluded pond on the hill above the farmhouse. Up here, the only things you hear are the airplanes flying over. Or you might hear kids running and jumping and having a good 'ol time.