No one day on the farm is ever what I would call normal. This past Saturday was no exception. Animals and kids are wonderful and crazy like the Oklahoma weather. I woke to the thunder of feet hurling themselves down the stairs before my brain was even firing. COFFEE.. On mornings like this, I run of coffee, dry shampoo, and protein shakes. We do barn chores first. We always care for our livestock before ourselves. We feed and water all the animals and then check health issues while they are eating. This makes our lives easier. I do 98% of all our vet work on our goats and I have a great licensed vet that I can call on when I need her. We have been blessed with very little in the way of health issues with our goats this year. For this, I am so very thankful because it hasn't always been the case. As I grab my barn boots and shop keys I decided to do the chores alone. Sometimes a momma has to grab those fleeting moments of peace and time to pray when and where she can. The barn that my husband and I built from the ground up is my sanctuary of peace . Everything melts away there. The crazy stress and constant buzzing of my brain just gets still there. After feeding all the goats and checking the babies and mommas, I just stare out the back gate for a second. The fog gives an other world feeling and my mind and soul are just at peace. The barn is a simple place. Not any more predictable than my three year old, but simple. Life and death happen here. New babies are born each spring and offer promise and hope as they bounce around and play. Sometimes the barn is where a life will end on the farm. Sickness and age claim lives here just like the real world. It is truly its own stage for drama. The smell of the barn is sweet. The damp hay and smell of feed. Then there are the sounds of the barn. The crows that fly over head. The goat mommas gently bleating to their kids as they bounce and play. The sounds of babies nursing to the back drop of the chickens clucking as they clean up the leftover goat smorgasbord. The turkeys gobbling and of course the occasional rooster crow.
A place of peace is something everyone should have. It of course, won't always be a barn. I hope it is somewhere you can collect yourself. Where all the buzzing of the outside world melts away so you can think. Somewhere, that like this gate, lets your rest and then return to take care of all that has been put into your care. It offers rest and also the promise of all the day holds.
Thanks for stopping by again friends.. hope to see you again soon.
Jamie