A Day In The (Country) Life

This post is was originally created on March 25, 2010
No matter where I drive, I tend to take notice of the environment as it passes me by. Yesterday’s travels through the countryside were no exception. As I drive through the country, I think about how it pertains to my life; mostly about what I really want…to be a true country girl. How I yearn for my own homestead, a piece of property to do what I desire like plant a big garden, have an orchard, maybe even raise a few chickens. As I was leaving the dairy farm yesterday, I noticed the cows in the pasture. I got excited thinking about the fact that newborn calves will soon be on their way. It’s always a joy to meet the newest members of the herd. As I drove further down the road, I saw maple trees being tapped, with metal buckets hanging around the tree trunks to collect the sap. This is always the promise of sweet maple syrup being made. Just beyond the trees, the sugar shack is billowing out black smoke from the smokestack, another tell-tale sign of that sweet goodness. As I passed up the farmer’s fields, bare and colorless, I couldn’t help but think about how in a few short weeks, they will be bursting forth with new, bright green shoots of corn, wheat and soy. It was in this moment that I realized the atonement between country living and wholesome food. So many of our basic needs are met right here in the country, from meats to produce, grains and so much more. The man-made bee hives are always easy to spot against the dark woods. Soon enough they will be buzzing with honey bees, working so hard for their queen. As I get back into town, I pick up my son from school. From there, we continue making our milk deliveries to the others in the milk group. As we’re leaving one home, I see the farmer running from her barn towards our car. She asks if we would like to see the lamb that was born just five minutes prior to our arrival. Of course! I never want to miss out on a learning opportunity for our kids. We get as close to the pasture as we can without scaring the new mama sheep. Not only do we see the newly born lamb (with fleece as white as snow), sleeping in the tall, brown grass is a brown lamb that was born a couple of hours earlier. The white lamb tries to stand so it can nurse. It was short lived as it did the splits and fell to the ground. Still it’s amazing how animals have the inborn ability to seek for what they need. To top off the day, my son got to pet a five year old chicken named Goldie. Country living is my way of life. Having lived here for only ten years now, I’ve embraced it and have learned to take advantage of all that it has to offer….even from my tiny house in my little town.