MAPLEWOODS FARM
A PLACE OF OUR OWN – A
PLACE TO LOVE
10-17-2013
My friend
Betty Shilling sent me a DVD – Greenfire, which deals with the life of
environmentalist, Aldo Leopold (Sand County Almanac). It makes me “weepy” and this morning I
realized that some of this emotion relates to our little farm. When Aldo bought his piece of property in the
Sand County of Wisconsin, he wanted a piece of his own land to bring back to
life. We did the same (on a smaller
scale) with our farm. It was the land
that inspired us to buy it 38 years ago – 5 acres of our own.
The house
had to be brought back to life. We took
on that project and we began a long, slow process to turn this farm into the
little treasure we have now. Larry
planted trees, we built sheds for our animals, created pastures and
gardens. It became a wonderful place to
raise our girls and it became a very special place for our extended family,
friends, 4-H Club and the children in my Farm Camps. Year after year we have seen our farm evolve
and become an oasis on a road that was once dirt with very few homes and now a
very busy street with condos and large homes.
It has become a place for our grandchildren to
roam and enjoy. They play with the chickens,
run on the paths in our pasture, climb trees, make maple syrup, watch birds,
chase fireflies and explore the woods throughout the seasons. This land and our home – the farm – is to us
what Aldo’s little Sand County retreat was to him and his family, a place to
love.
There must be a story behind the photo. When was it taken? From what altitude? How much of the 5 acres are visible? How did you get it? Is the current house visible? The barn? Quinta Robbie?
ReplyDeleteWow, that's a lot of questions.Let me think about best way to reply.
ReplyDelete