On the Farm

In the last few weeks, Mother Nature has wreaked havoc on some of our friends’ farms. David lost the roof to one of his barns (the entire roof!) and witnessed the family trampoline get picked up and relocated to a small pasture. Another friend’s place got smacked by a tornado that yanked trees out of the ground like toothpicks and managed to flip over a big, fancy horse trailer. Happy to report no harm was done to neither humans nor animals. And so it’s no big deal to say that a few downed trees wrecked some fencing and took out a section of the riding ring this week on Our Green Acres — oh, and a culvert crossing got washed out from the winter rains. We’re just taking it all in stride.

After we bought the property a few years ago, Buster (our hay expert) told Mike that a big truck had crashed into one of the stone pillars that once stood at the driveway entrance and demolished it. The owners, then elderly, never had the column rebuilt. Buster happened to mention in a later conversation that old Mr. Smith used to sit down by the creek for hours on end just ‘soaking’ in the view. Last year we discovered a big pile of stones buried among briars and poison ivy near the back pasture — the former pillar, now lying in a heap in the woods. Thanks to Adrian and his friends, we heaved every one of those big beautiful rocks onto the back of the Rhino and transported them down to the creek where Mike and the boys made a new campsite. Now the old pillar has been brought back to life as a campfire circle overlooking the Tallaseehatchee Creek. I know we will enjoy it for years to come. But more importantly, we hope Mr. & Mrs. Smith will enjoy the view, too, from somewhere up there. 🙂