Country Road, Take Me Home

The kids and I recently went to stay with my parents on their farm.  They invited us to attend the County fair and to spend the night.  I have to be honest.  The County fair is tied up with many of my favorite memories as a teenager.  It was a huge event.  Everybody...and I mean, Everybody was at the fair.  There were booths filled with free give-away items.  There was junk food, fair food, music, stalls of cows, pigs, sheep, rabbits, etc...There were tractor races, lots filled with machinery, and 4-H projects galore.  And of course...for this boy crazy girl...there were boys!
It was a lot of fun to go back and experience.  But it made me somewhat sad.  Times have changed.  The fair isn't what it used to be.  Dad attributes it to the death of the American farm family.  It was completely different and much smaller than I remembered.  The kids had a great time.  They stood and yelled, "BAAAAAA" at the sheep and broke into hysterical giggles when the sheep would "BAAAA" back at them.  They gathered free items, and filled up on junk food.  It was a wonderful time to just be with my parents.  But, it felt like the end of an era.  And I started to feel a very strange feeling in the pit of my stomach.  My parents won't farm forever.  This is my heritage.  This is "home" to me.  I am so grateful that my boys have grown up knowing this life.  I love that they know exactly where their food comes from.  I love escaping from my surroundings and going back to the simple existence that is my childhood home.  I went out to my car this morning and a small toad was jumping on the rocks in front of my foot.  I heard the very loud call of the "bob white" bird.  And for just a moment, I was 10 years old...without a care in the world...at home...with my parents.   I know I have to be a grown-up.  But, it allowed me to step back in time for a few minutes and pray a prayer of thanksgiving for the childhood I had and for the wonderful relationship I have with my mom and dad.

Here are a few of our memories:

sunset.  love it!

SHHHHHHH!

Mom and Dad

Mom and Noodle

The boys