Raspberries...

Yesterday i stopped at Redberry Farm out in Hudsonville with the two youngest boys in search of the last remaining ruby jewels... Raspberries!  I was dreaming of delicious homemade jam... a favorite in our family.

  I love Redberry Farm... the old white farmhouse with green trim, the stand overflowing with berries and pumpkins and gourds, the red barns... i love it all.  The boys and I wandered over to one of the barns to see the animals.  The pigs were snorting like crazy, the cows were mooing, the chickens were scrambling to peck at tomato's that had been thrown over the fence.  The baby calves came right up to the fence and allowed us to rub their soft heads and big ole cow tongues curled up and around to try and "kiss" our hands.  We got to see the horse up close, a "Morgan" horse we were told... which is a really, really big horse, good for riding and working.  The colored leaves crunched beneath our feet and were fragrant with every step.  The air was cool, the sun felt warm and i thought to myself... I could do this...  I could be a country girl. 

 I am sure it is alot of hard work but there is so much beauty and a simplicity that I long for.  I envisioned my own boys feeding the chickens and being chased by the pigs... I could see myself going horseback riding at sunset... and making homemade jam in my kitchen having just picked berries from my very own bushes.

  I know I am "romanticizing" the farm life and it is probably more like dirty hard work but something about it calls out to me.  Maybe I crave a slower paced life with time to smell the roses.  Maybe I long to work hard but feel content at the fruit of my labors.  One thing I do know: while I was there I felt content, happy and at peace... I wasn't rushing but rather living in the moment and soaking it all in and it felt good!