The computer is slower than Christmas this morning. My husband pipes up to encourage me to call the satellite company as I am voicing my frustration at it's snail's pace. I am technically challenged and would rather have bamboo shoots forced under my toe nails than to call a tech support department. So, I decided to sit and rock on the front porch as God teaches me patience.
The funny thing is, I begin to watch the chickens as they peck the ground and am aware of the rhythm of the farm. It's slow and easy this morning. My mind drifts to thoughts of Family Farm Week. The quiet peace of the farm is missing the laughter that had filled the air just 4 weeks ago. Images of family members gathered on the front porch to reminisce of days past. Sleepy heads emerging from the camper with first thoughts of grabbing an egg basket for the morning chores.
It's more than a family event that takes weeks of work preparing for. It's a tradition that I hope will connect us forever. Although my own family was somewhat dysfunctional....I guess all families are to an extent, I do have memories of tradition. Memories of my Grandmother making fried peach pies in a cast iron skillet, memories of visiting my Great Grandmother wearing a purple bonnet and picking vegetables from a garden. The gathering of extended family for holidays was a time to reconnect with cousins. I've always wanted to pass that along and I am so blessed to be able to do that on Red Gate Farms.
So it may seem to our family that we are hosting them, but the truth is they are blessing us. Allowing us to share our home and to share the peace of the farm. Each year we create new memories and we play them back until the next year when we get to do it all over again. So, I'll keep playing the Family Farm Week movie over and over again for the next 11 months. Anxiously waiting for June 2012 when that wonderful laughter and chatter of family fills our humid farm air again.
