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Sunday, August 2, 2015

Our First Anniversary at Cold Comfort Farm - Full Time

Instead of the typical anniversary reflection of listing all the things we've accomplished over the last year, this posting centers on an important comment that Marti made yesterday - on our first anniversary here at the farm.

As we worked helping our neighbors mow and bale their fields and our large field and as we climbed up and down a 6,000 bale mountain in their barn and a 762 bale hill in ours SEVERAL times - we got tired, very tired.
Our barn holds 10,000 hay bales in the loft so these 762 bales looks like a tiny mound
This window is 20' above the barn loft floor and Mark is standing on the mini mountain of bales at the foot or barn window
Yes, I do nap!











But it is the best kind of tired you can be.  It isn't the tired you get from sitting in a car in traffic, or at a desk - it's the kind of tired where you sleep well (sometimes after a little Ibuprofen - at our age).

This all happened as Marti helped (as she could), watched, and most of all gave us all the smiles and laughter that only Marti (feeding Mark's humor) can.  As we sat on the patio last evening after we finished putting the 762 bales in the barn, she made the most profound comment - unexpected - even for her.

She said that after living with us on the farm for the last two months, the next time she sits down to a steak dinner, she will have much more appreciation for the work it took to bring the beef to that plate.  She said that most people have NO idea (and neither had she until now) what it took to raise just one cow...let alone mow and bale hay for it to eat, feed it twice daily in the winter, clean the barn it lives in, milk it twice a day (milk really doesn't come from the store), butcher and wrap it, and transport it to your grocery store.  That statement resonated with me...that is the real reason we are here on the farm!

I know, most of you will think that we sound like the hippies of the 70s, but it is so true!  We have all (me included) lost the connection to reality, to our food and what it really takes to grow/produce it, to the land, and to the weather!  I used to be one of those "three degree" people that was not comfortable outside of a certain three degree range - not too hot and heaven help not too cold.

So, this anniversary blog is to admit that we've come a far way in the last year (not with just physical goals), gotten out of our comfort zone, grown in a way we had not expected - and it is good!  And we are so grateful!

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