We've been having some fun days here lately. Little excursions that are beyond play dates and kids' hour at the library are popping up weekly, and we're taking full advantage of them. Last Friday, my neighbor-friend asked if we would like to go with her to pick up her raw milk. It was a 15 minute drive to a working farm perched on a ridge overlooking two sprawling valleys and our local mountain.
The kids were captured by the animals. Burl had questions, because he's in that I can talk and I'm figuring stuff out stage that doesn't stop. I love conversing with him, but I also love the weekends when John takes the reign on explaining things to him. Fern LOVED the animals until the cow moo'd. She was officially spooked and could only observe them from a safe distance.
After we observed all the animals two times each, we were about to leave and I spotted the ranch hand. (Don't think that I don't love that I just used the words ranch hand as part of my normal speech. I'm so down with rural living. Yeah, so down.) I struck up a conversation with him that started with, "my dad just got into a farming." (Dad, I know you just gasped out loud. You're feeling validated, aren't you? Go ahead, own it.) We got to talking (cause farmers don't start anything-they get to doing something), and I do what I do best with people from 'round these parts: I find a mutual friend. Living in a big small town makes it easy to connect to a lot of people. One thing led to another and he started telling me about the lake on the farm. Say what!?! He said I could go, so I dusted up that back road down the mountain about a mile through some woods until they opened up to a pond/lake, more animals, a better view of the mountain, rolling hills, and a big sky. A little utopia for my Friday.
I snapped a few pictures, then just sat there, taking it all in. My happy, exploring kids. The sun. No place to be. Our surroundings. It was an easy kind of peaceful that was laid upon me unexpectedly, and I got there right in the moment. Deep breathing and all.
