Parents and grandparents often live vicariously through their offspring.I guess I cant say Im doing so since Im living the same experiences now; its more a matter of re-visiting a fantasy childhood. Not that my childhood was awful; QUITE the opposite I hasten to assure you. I grew up a lake rat at Portage Lake. Grew up with the freedom of the lakes, canals, neighboring swamps and streams beckoning me to learn their secrets. To immerse myself, as befits a watery environment, in the magic of a watershed ecosystem. Swimming, fishing, sailing, snorkeling, canoeing and just staring into the depths consumed hours and hours of my formative years. By my early teens I had a dream-come-true-very-own-horse and spent huge amounts of time at the stable where he was kept. I was enabled and encouraged in my fascination with reptiles and other weird pets. Plus lots of ordinary ones. And I wouldnt change one single minute of it. Thanks Mom. Thanks Dad. Thanks Fate and Destiny. But I always harbored a twinge of envy - okay, I admit it. An outright jealousy - of those who grew up on a farm. To this day I am still enamored of biographies where the storytellers recount their youths spent gathering eggs, milking cows. Embracing the joys and enduring the rigors of an agrarian life. And now I am one of those storytellers. I am so very content. Yet not above reveling (vicariously) in the wonderment of being a farm child. My kids were still young when we moved here and I had the great priviledge of allowing them to grow up as I had so often wished I could. Ponies, goats, puppies, and calves. Hay forts and hay wagon rides. Butchering, harvesting, and fences to mend. Bon fires and fireflies. Running wild in the fields and woods. And now Hooray for grandchildren! Hooray for daughters who embrace my lifestyle. Who dont mind when their youngsters come home with mud and chicken poop on their knees after crawling among the hens while Grandma gathers the eggs. Who dont shudder at the thought of their precious little one dangling through a fence laughing at a cow. Who look forward to their children learning the same lessons as themselves. How your head will fit through the upper rails of the gate but get stuck farther down. How a dog will lick most of a broken egg off your hand but youll still need to swish your fingers in a water trough to clean off the rest. How sometimes you watch safely from the confines of a cart (like feeding a sow apples) and other times you can be right in the middle of it all (like feeding the poults). Hooray for another lap around the pool of vicariously growing up on a farm! p.s. still love lakes, streams, ponds and swamps!
Posted on: Sat, 18 Oct 2014 09:42:25 +0000
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