Saturday Morning on the Farm
and our latest tv show binge.
9.30.23
Breathe in………Breathe out
Feel the cool morning air of the last day in September
Breathe in………Breathe out
See the brightness of the full harvest moon illuminating the farm just before sunrise
Breathe in………Breathe out
Hear the silence, in between the rooster crows, of a foggy yet clear morning in this bucolic country life
Breathe in………Breathe out
See the way the autumn light falls on the red spider lilies and makes them dance, reminders of those who planted them there decades ago
Breathe in………Breathe out
Feel at peace with this living world, as another season turns
What exactly does it mean to ground yourself? For me it means taking a moment to observe the mundane things that most people overlook. It’s the reason I take so many pictures. I try to capture these moments. Knowing that I am just a small part of a much bigger scene, makes my worries and concerns diminish a bit.
This writing exercise of doing 30 minute free writes has proven not to be as easy as I had hoped. If I could write all the things that go through my head on my drive to work, I could fill pages. I am learning things about myself through this writing activity though. Even if it isn’t producing the most riveting things to read. However, I do think that is the point of a free write. It is super raw and unprocessed. But as you can see, morning writes seem to be more lucid and inspired. I feel like this is exercise just like physical exercise. I am using my mind to create words and put them out into the world. It’s quite an amazing phenomenon if you think about it.
We do not watch much television. Mostly at night before we go to bed, we’ll find some series we like and binge watch a couple of episodes. Lately it has been extremely hard to find anything that interests us more than an episode or two. But I decided to go back in time when there was good tv and we tried out Little House on the Prairie. Of course I read the books when I was a child and watched the show when I was about the age of Laura in the series. I remember my Daddy and Granny enjoyed watching it with us. I wasn’t sure I could get Hubby hooked into it, but I think I have.
Watching Little House as an adult from a different perspective is like watching a whole new show. I have a better understanding of the struggles they went through on the farm. The financial worries and the fear of losing crops or livestock to natural disasters. The last episode we watched was when Laura was learning to read and write. She had so many words in her head, so many great stories, but she lacked the skill yet to get them out on paper. She got up in front of the whole school on parent day and read her essay which was an amazing story about her Ma, but in reality, she only had about 10 words on her sheet of paper. Of course, knowing she went on to become a great writer made that all the more poignant.
That is exactly the way I feel about writing lately. I have the BEST ideas when I’m unable to write them down, mostly when I’m driving. But when I finally have the time to sit and do my free write they’re gone and I struggle to get words on paper that are cohesive. However, I will continue to flex this muscle because I know it will get better over time.
I will use this space to analyze my writing style. I’m looking forward to starting some lessons soon with one of my favorite authors, Janisse Ray. And if you want to see more of my polished work, subscribe to my farm page where you’ll find history lessons of our farm, helpful how-to articles, recipes, and a quarterly newsletter.
Thanks for reading and being here. Let me know how your free write sessions are coming along and if you are learning anything new about yourself.
Look I got out a poem and an essay in 30 minutes. Woohoo!