On the farm - Saturday
/We left Cheyenne around 10:15 Saturday morning. I was wildly hung over from all the narcotics I'd been hopped up on the night before and was feeling quite weak after 4 days of unsubstantial eating and 3 severe vertigo attacks. My muscles stung each time I climbed the stairs and my hashed vestibular system still hadn't regained it's accuracy. Yuck. No fun. I am ever so grateful for Dad and Mel's help getting us packed and on the road. I, honest to goodness, could not have physically done it without their help. Mel followed us most the way and then they swapped drivers and she drove me and the boys the rest of the way into the farm. With the boys zoned out with movies in the backseat (I LOVE screen time! Don't judge. We are wiped) I was able to have really neat conversations with both my Dad and Mel as we were driving. A blessing, indeed! We arrived on the farm a little after 4:00, central time, and it was a welcome site! I haven't seen my friend Shane in YEARS, and each time we see each other again we are able to just pick up where we left off. There's never any awkwardness involved. It such a blessing seeing her do something she loves so entirely - farming. The humidity felt amazing after being in dry climate since leaving Turkey, and I'd forgotten how much I love moisture in the air (within reason.... :). The boys love it here - I think little boys were born for this kind of life. Running barefoot and shirtless on a farm. It's a serene setting to be sure! It feels so separated from reality, kind of like living by the ocean did. And a bit like Turkey. We are surrounded by corn fields and green rolling hills of soy bean crop. Cicadas sing their tune every now and then and there's the welcomed sound of farm life pleading for feed and attention. We sat down to grilled burgers (MAN were they good! And they said that was just average beef from a farm down the road!), and laughed our way through dinner. I put Luke down at 7, local time, which was only 6:00 body clock time but he was wiped from the drive and no nap. Shane and her husband, Kerry, took the the boys on their nightly cattle check drive and I stayed behind to bed down Luke and get sleeping arrangements set up for the rest of us.
I wasn't sure what to do with myself after all the prep. I relished that. I wandered over to the goat pen to talk to them and the gorgeous Turkish something-or-other puppy that is being trained to herd and protect them. I had no idea goats are so social. I went to pet the dog and one particular goat was just not having the fact that my other hand was resting in my lap. I reached in a stroked it's head and it closed it's eyes, resting it's fuzzy little chin on the fence. If I'd stop rubbing it would run it's head back and forth over the palm of my hand. I sat rubbing the dogs head and the goats head for a good 30 minutes. The sun was setting behind the hills directly behind them and it made the colors of their eyes vibrant. They were simply delighted to be touched. There were no heads to count, no boys to remind about dangers, no other person to talk to. It was just me and a dog and some goats and it was strangely therapeutic.
The boys rolled back in all wired from their adventure. Shane had taken a picture of the all riding with their heads poking out the sun roof - she said they all seemed convinced that they were in a tank, shooting enemies. I laughed, but it sank my heart a bit. Military kids hear too much and know too much, even at these young ages. I suppose it's inherently boy, but it took my back to when we were in Turkey and once we knew the gate and fences had been threatened they were uneasy any time they heard the gun fire at the shooting range across base. We just were never totally sure when it wouldn't be the shooting range we were hearing. Thankfully the Lord protected our time their.
We bedded down for the night, ready to start a new day on Sunday, of farming adventures!