Farm Summer Days, Zinnia Field, and Other News Fresh From the Farm

Inside: Farm summer days past and present, day trip to a zinnia field, and pleasant distractions. Check out all the latest fresh from the farm.

little girl holding a flower on a farm summer — The perfect picture of summer: my niece Victoria’s hands holding a flower.

Farm Summer Days Past and Present

I feel like I’ve been visited by the ghost of summers past, but it’s good to reflect on what once was sometimes. Remember what summers were like when I was a little girl here on the farm. I’m one of those grownup farm kids who fondly recalls my younger days running through rows of cornstalks so high you could get lost in a field. (Tip: Stay in the same row so you don’t lose your way.)

Or thinking back to our typical seasonal menu: sliced tomatoes at every meal, cut-up cucumbers in vinegar water, corn on the cob dripping with butter–unless we happened to be at Granny’s house, which meant margarine (not nearly as good)–and watermelon, sweet and sticky. And, please, pass the salt shaker because a little sprinkle makes the melon taste even better.

And what would summer be like without ice cream? Waiting for the yellow Schwan’s truck to appear every three weeks with an assortment of large tubs of Neapolitan, Drumsticks (Dad’s favorite), orange creamsicles, root beer float bars, and ice cream sandwiches. And popsicles. Who could forget popsicles? (Red and orange eaten first, of course.) And lest we put the proverbial cart before the horse, their Tony’s pizzas were a real treat before the treat–just to balance out nutritional needs.

Summers also included endless hours of play–after chores, of course! We’d head up to the farm with our cousins, setting up our toy farms in Grandma’s back yard. Or walking down to Al’s Camp deep in the woods to explore. Climbing the peach tree and eating the juicy, dripping fruit sitting on the roof of the old garage. Riding on the hay wagon as the bale stack grew higher and higher.

But nothing could compare to nighttime games. Catching fireflies in a jar–yes, we set them free. And playing scare the hare–a variation of hide-and-seek–as darkness descends on the farm, and barns and silo cast eerie shadows. Or just sitting outside, hearing the tinkling number chains around the necks of the dairy cows bedding down for the night in the pasture behind the house.

Summers are different now, as an adult–this one more so. And, yet, the corn still grows tall. Fireflies appear with the night, and the barns and silo cast long shadows in the moonlight.

And somewhere, near the tool shed, crouching low behind a sprawling maple tree, a little girl quietly giggles, hoping her brother and cousins don’t find her hiding place.

Day Trip to a Zinnia Field

We took a short day trip to Perryville (MO, for my out-of-state readers) the other day and stopped by St. Mary’s of the Barrens Church, lured by the pictures from a friend who visited the zinnia field. As some of you know, I love zinnias, and seeing a little field of them did my heart good. So many colors to choose from in this little field–orange, red, burgundy, yellow, purple, pink, cream, peach–a feast for the eyes, indeed!

But what also did my heart good was just the short walk to get there. A path that wound around towering conifers and lovely garden beds. A path just right for reflecting. A peaceful path.

Something I could definitely use more of this year.

Pleasant Distractions

File this under “be careful what you wish for,” but at the beginning of this year, when some very specific prayers had not been answered after a year and a half, I was looking and asking for distractions. . .

Yeah.

To be fair, the current situation has been a distraction, but I don’t see it as answered prayer–though it has gotten my mind off my problems.

But those aren’t the distractions I’m talking about. Classic TV has been a wonderful escape. I’ve been spending quite a lot of time in Mayberry where the living is simple and folks care about each other. I’ve also been watching a lot of law and order type of programs where the good guys always beat the bad guys, and in their spare time they’re coaching little league teams or helping old people. You know, that “doing-good” stuff that has been such a staple of our American way of life. (And still is, I maintain!) Another favorite of mine has been Green Acres, which is good for some cornball laughs. Just singing the opening song can cheer a gal up!

On an entirely different distracting note, I recently download an app for playing Wordscapes, which I blame entirely on my nephews who introduced it to me while they were visiting back in June. (Thank you, Judah and Elijah!) I am already on level 711 (blush), but in my defense, it’s good for a wordsmith like myself to exercise my knowledge of words and spelling. Keep me fresh and my vocab muscle in good shape.

Right.

At any rate, I’m spending some time on self care, and not apologizing for it! As a matter of fact, I took the entire week off during Mike’s vacation days earlier this month. He’s taking another week right now, and so am I–mostly.

At some point life will return to normal–normal normal, I mean. Not this “new normal” malarkey I keep hearing about on commercials and from other misguided (or misguiding) individuals. But good old-fashioned normal.

After all, they don’t wear masks in Mayberry.