We went for a ride this morning......the first sunny morning after almost a week of torrential rain. The world smelled fresh and clean. There were puddles everywhere and the grasses and gardens were all bright, jungle green. We rode through the countryside and through farmland and saw all the glorious sights of back-road Tennessee. Rolling along, seeing all the lush green fields, the gardens being guarded by funny scarecrows, clothes hanging out on the lines to dry, cows grazing in the fields, and barns dotting the hillsides....I couldn't help but think about a small, tiny, glimmer of a dream I've always kept hidden away in a dusty corner of my mind. It's only a dream.....and will probably remain a dream because reality couldn't live up to the shimmering perfectness of the way I picture things.
In my misty dream, a big yellow sun rises on the green rolling hills of my small farm just as my rooster crows a perfectly timed and happy "Cock-a-Doodle-Doo" to welcome the new day. The sun glistens on the dew as I enjoy a steaming aromatic cup of coffee and head out to gather the eggs and feed the chickens and milk my cow. Yes. My cow. Her name is (of course) Bessie.
Next, I pick my green beans and tomatoes and a few ears of corn. When the sun is high up over head and shadows all but disappear underfoot, I pour myself a tall glass of iced tea with slices of lemon and head out to sit under the shade tree and snap my fresh green beans...and hear the pleasing sound of the ping-ping-ping as the newly snapped beans hit the bowl. There is a perfect breeze cooling the noon heat and my lunch consists of a giant slab of juicy red tomato and a slice of sweet onion sandwiched between a buttermilk biscuit and a freshly sliced cucumber.
The laundry is freshly washed and hanging out on the line to dry...pants dancing on the breeze, socks tapping their toes along in rhythm. The clean sheets will smell like the sky and wind and sweet wild honeysuckle when I climb into bed tonight.
Zinnias and Marigolds riotously bloom in a rainbow of happy colors, their faces lifted in worship to the sun along the first row of my neat little garden. Chirping blue birds and fat little wrens sing merry little tunes as they hop along the ground, searching for their lunches. Mr. Robin Red Breast flashes me a wink from his from the fence post and Mr. Mockingbird trills his song and shows me the white strips along his wingspan as he flits from perch to perch around the yard....stopping to snitch a few seeds from my giant yellow sunflowers.
Family and friends will gather for supper tonight.....so I set the table out on the porch with a gingham cloth and pretty matching checkered napkins. A mason jar full of sunny white daisies with yellow hearts grace the center of the table. We'll feast on my fresh green beans, corn on the cob, cornbread, pinto beans, fried chicken, tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, chow-chow, greens and a giant strawberry cobbler. As the sun goes down, we'll make a churn of homemade vanilla ice cream to top the cobbler....and we'll all sit around and sip our iced tea and talk late into the warm evening while the children chase lightening bugs.
It's a nice, sweet dream.......colored by my childhood. In reality, I don't really want the responsibility of taking care of a cow and chickens......and growing a giant garden would be more work than I would want to take on.............as I want to be free to travel and see the world......but every now and then.....I really, really want to retreat to my magical fantasy farm for a few days.
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