Going Barnyard

It seems I've been a failure as a blogger, although the urge to write is with me always, I have found it challenging I suppose to have much to say along the lines of what is happening here at the farm. What I do think about, constantly, are all of the deep connections in life and how the farm has this incredible way of putting these connections on display so beautifully.

This tendency to see life in nature is one of things I share with our Dad, and one of the things I most enjoy about how my brain works (many other things I would change--but this thing--I love it).

For anyone who attended Dad's celebration of life a few years ago, you might recall my sharing about how the saying "Barnyard metaphors" came about in the first place, but for those who missed this classic tale-here it is in brief.

Doug and I had been married a handful of years and were in the midst of a heated disagreement, the subject of which I can no longer recall. As is my tendency, I attempted from various angles to explain my point of view, no doubt weaving in several examples that I thought might drive home my point at long last. As I rounded the corner on my latest attempt, Doug interrupted me, saying something along the lines of, "I don't need anymore of your Dad's barnyard metaphors Ali."

To be fair, I'm sure this sentence continued, however I cannot recall what else was said, only that the words struck me such that I was compelled to share the exchange with Dad (much to Doug's eternal horror) and from then on it became an integral part of our language together.

"I gotta go barnyard," Dad would say, smiling as he explained how some naturalistic phenomena mirrored the experience he was attempting to describe, neatly painting a picture with his words that would leave us both delighted.

I have often thought how lovely it would be to write a book of such stories, but for now, I am renaming this blog and will do my best to relay some of these little tidbits, mostly for my enjoyment I suppose, and also for yours. Be warned that not all such tales will stir up misty memories of the sweetness of life, for many of them also reflect nature's horrors. Regardless truth is just that, and there is comfort I think in seeing it reflected back at us from the natural world.