You know the old saying "Bloom Where You are Planted?" I'm trying and I hope you are, too.
Like many teenagers, I never intended to live in my hometown when I grew up. I've written about it before, so I won't go over it again, but at one time, I really thought I was born to live in a city and somehow ended up on a farm in the country by mistake.
And I NEVER intended to fall in love with a farmer who worried about the weather and worked 24/7.
But I AM SO GLAD I DID!
Now, I know I was born to live in the country on a farm with my farmer who worries about the weather and indeed does work almost 24/7. I'm very proud to be a farmer's wife and a farmer's daughter and farmers' mother.
It is a good life and I am very, very grateful.
And we go to Florida a lot, so there is that. Yeah!
I am so thankful to live where I live.
I LOVE our little community. It is filled with salt of the earth people who would literally give you the shirt off their back and often do. I've heard that in some parts of our country, it's common for many people to have "big hats and no cattle", living above their means and worried about keeping up with the Joneses. Here, it is much more normal for people to have "many cattle and a small hat."
I like that about them.
But, if there is a need, our people are quick to help. They volunteer. They share. They give. They support great causes. They really care about others. They notice what is happening around them.
They buy raffle tickets. And girl scout cookies. And animals at the 4-H livestock auction. And purses. And cookie dough. And pork loins. And "stuff" they don't really need when their little people ask them to.
They eat a lot, too. Porkburgers and more porkburgers. (Have you ever had one? They are delicious!) Pancakes. Sausage breakfasts. Hog roasts. Strawberry Ice Cream.
They play basket bingo and trivia and dodge ball to raise funds for various projects. They hold special spin classes to contribute money for adoptions for people they will never meet in a state across the country.
They give to missionaries across the world. And to the ministry down the street.
And those are just a few things that quickly pop into my head.
Who wouldn't want to live here?
Not only are these people givers, they are super interesting, too. I love learning about what makes a person "light up"!
I want to learn more about their......
tapping maple trees and making syrup the old fashioned way, for the sheer fun of it
taking farm "junk" and welding it into art
making furniture
creating a home music recording studio and then using it to help promote our very own American Idol contestant, Cheyenne Goss
crocheting like it is a job
beekeeping
meeting on Thursday nights with mandolins, banjos, and guitars to make music that only they will hear
running marathons, half marathons, or just around town, spinning, doing holy yoga, Insanity, Girl Fit, Cize
making museum quality quilts
studying stars and history
books being written
fishing our lakes, hunting our woods and catching the big ones
getting cattle ready for big shows all over the Midwest
growing huge gardens, picking mushrooms, wild blackberries, raspberries and ginseng
book clubs and essential oil clubs and bridge clubs
day lily collectors, daffodil collectors, antique tractor collectors
racing dirtbikes and cars and competing in talent shows and being really good at it, too
poetry writing and a newsletter published several times a year describing the events that happen in imaginary Happyville
Uninformed people might overlook our small community or wonder what we do for fun. Those of us who call this home, look around at all our wide open spaces, count our blessings and get busy living!
