A Few of My Favorite Things

I crave being in northern Wisconsin. I feel at home and at peace with myself when I’m there. On my most recent trip, I was trying to think about a few of my favorite things that I do, hear or see while I’m at the home farm.

• Being greeted by the family dog. Heidi is old but she knows my car and always welcomes me with kisses no matter how long I’ve been away.
• Walking the grounds with Mom. Each time I go home, my mom and I have a ritual of inspecting her awesome garden and then walking around the rest of the farm to look at her many flowerbeds. She’s a fountain of knowledge and I hope that just some of that sticks with me as the years go by.
• Listening to birds, bugs or frogs. By day you can hear the birds chirping or the bugs buzzing and at night you can hear the frogs singing. No matter what, these sounds are far superior to the traffic I hear in my backyard in St. Paul.
• Watching stars and seeing Northern Lights. While I can see stars in St. Paul, nothing is more dramatic than being in total darkness and silence on a clear, cool night on the farm. You can hear the frogs chirping, an occasional coyote yip in the distance and you can see stars for what seems like miles. Now add a light show in the form Northern Lights and that is pure perfection.

Don’t get me wrong – there are many things that I love and enjoy about where I live and work now. But nothing brings me solace like spending time at the farm. That’s where I truly feel alive.