We bought this farm in 2008.
It hardly seems like six years ago.
A lot has happened since then.
I’ve seen droughts and I’ve seen a hurricane blow through.
Fire has threatened and lightning has struck.
The Buddhist neighbors to the west are lovely, and Rusty to the east is a trial.
But one thing has stayed the same, mostly because it never is. The same that is.
Nature responds the same way each year no matter what it’s faced.
With resiliency of life through the sheer ability to adapt.
I stand amazed.
This hot August at the farm, we’ve got the prettiest, purplest muscadines you’ve ever seen, despite we’ve shared more than a few with cackling birds.
See?
And then there is a cactus I brought from a trip to a friend’s house in New Mexico, you know those kind of friends, who no matter how far they move, you know your hearts are still joined. This year that cactus went crazy.
See?
And then, from seeds that were a gift two years ago, up sprang this old timey plant, an heirloom originally brought from Germany in the l880s. It’s called