Where I’ve Been (Part Two: The Farm)
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After spending a week in the North Woods of Wisconsin, the four of us settled in on a farm in the Northern suburbs of Chicago. Not just any farm. The farm where Dad lived from age ten on. Even though Dad is now gone (two years as of this coming Monday – hard to believe), we have kept the farm in the family. And when we visit, the kids play and I am flooded with memories. Here, the girls run around in their pajamas.
And break into an impromptu dance to impress the horses in an nearby stable. (The horses were impressed. They told me.)
Snack time.
The horse break-dances to impress my girls. (They were impressed. They told me.)
Just a little morning game of hide and seek. Squint hard. Can you spot Baby?
Just some post-swimming soccer and bubbles on the patio. Life is good.
The girls’ first soccer ball (metallic pink, baby) alone in the grass waiting for little feet. (Please note that said ball was purchased at the local TARGET where we learned that Life After Yes is being displayed on the best-sellers shelf and was sold out at the time!)
The cluster of picnic tables where so many burgers have been scarfed over the years. Where friends and family gathered for cocktails during N’s wedding and for lunch after Dad’s funeral.
The house. Where a family evolved. Where Dad lived before being a dad. Where he transitioned from prep schooler to philosopher. From boy to man.
The sky. A heartbreaking blue marbled with puffs of white. A reminder to look up and think big.
A certain city girl gets down on the grass to play with her child. In so doing this city girl theorizes that the good life involves periodic grass stains and downright goofiness.
A lone flower. A bit hunched. A bit shriveled. But stunning all the same. Surrounded by fellow flowers and messes of trampled green grass. Alone and surrounded. (Like all of us.)
Have you spent time at your parents’ childhood home? Have you brought your own family there? Do you agree that, like that little flower, we are all alone and surrounded in this life?
Hi Aidan,
Glad you kept the farm. They are making a comeback! Lovely photos of the kids romping free as children ought to be. When our development-mad world decided to sell off all the farms, we sold off a vital part of ourselves, a connection to the land and sky and soil that we need to remain human. Time to jackhammer more asphalt to reveal the nature underneath …
Thx! Giulietta
Aidan you should pick up Bill Bryson’s Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid. It’s about growing up in the 50′s but there is a chapter on his grandparent’s farm you would probably totally adore and identify with.
PS – I’m trying to finish that book now, that’s why I haven’t been able to start on yours yet! But what an exciting experience, going into B&N (an exciting experience for me on it’s own) and traveling through the bookcases to find your book – I was like “I know her!” even though that statement is far from true. But it feels true, and that’s all that matters. It suddenly seemed more of a reality that I could one day be seeing my own book for sale.
Nice pix. Looks very idyllic and quite relaxing.
Aidan, I am so so enjoying your story telling with pictures. It reminds me of all my photos still stored in the camera or computer waiting to be displayed, waiting to tell a story. Perhaps one day.
What a beautiful place you have been able to enjoy and share with your children. You understand these moments are priceless, never to be repeated. Your pictures capture perfectly these moments. Thanks for sharing.
Neither of my parents had a childhood home left by the time they got married. Their house, however, the one where they’ve lived ever since I was nine, has become the family center. My sister and her husband built an attached apartment onto it, so they have a place to live when they’re home from school. We have talked about planting an apple tree for each grandchild somewhere on the property, so that they can watch it grow along with them, have something of their very own. Our roots are sunk deep there. Since my husband and I are still uncertain of our family’s future, whether we’ll ever be in a position to settle down somewhere permanently, or if we’ll be packing up and moving on every 5-10 years, we are so glad to have my family home to return to, as a place where our children can feel settled and secure, to know they belong there.
I’m so glad your vacation was so restful and enjoyable!
You were up in my neck o’ the woods. I live in Central Wisconsin. You probably drove right past my town on your way, no doubt.
What a wonderful tribute to the places that made you and those before you.
Enjoy the day, Aidan!
Erin
Lovely pictures. And you’re making such wonderful memories for your girls. Enjoy all those sweet moments with them!
Hey stranger!
So glad you had a wonderful vacation. Photos are amazing, Look forward to catching up at the next HH.
D
Wonderful images. I especially love the one of big blue sky and remembering that we have to think big. Glad you could connect with your past and future on the farm.
Simply lovely. Nothing better than pjs and good memories. Love the pink soccer ball, and the sold out book. Fantastic.