Home

"Home is a place you grow up wanting to leave,
and grow old wanting to get back to"
-John Ed Pearce

Yesterday morning Katie and I left for a short, but very sweet visit with the folks. Late in the afternoon, Daddy and I took a ride around the farm on the golf cart, because he just isn't able to walk it anymore. While riding around, I was able to get some pictures of the old barns. One dates back to 1930 that we know of. Others date back earlier than that we're almost certain. After all these years, they're holding their own.

I can remember many summer days spent at these barns. During the wee hours of those summer mornings, before dawn, I would hear daddy get up 2-3 times a night to go check the burners in each barn to make sure everything was just right. To lose a barn of tobacco would be like losing everything you'd worked for in a year.

Mama baking biscuits, scrambling eggs, and frying sausage before a big day of cropping would wake me up every barning morning. At lunch she'd have a pot of field peas, butter beans and usually corn along with banana sandwiches or fried bologna sandwiches. To this day I don't know how she did it and help with the farming too. Talk about Wonder Woman!




This is the old hog house as we called it. When we raised hogs we would keep the few we had in here.

I have vivid memories of this barn..colorful you might say. At one time, when the farm was more of working farm with hogs, chickens, and cows, one of my chores was to gather the eggs from the game hens. On that particular day the hen was none too happy that I was there to gather eggs and decided to peck me on my stomach instead. I hollered all the way back to the house!

Speaking of eggs, as we made our way around the pond, we found this mama goose sitting on her nest keeping her eggs nice and warm.




The cows weren't the only ones grazing on a mighty fine spread! By the time we got back to the house, mama had a delicious meal prepared. I declare that lady can cook up a storm! Country style steak, boiled potatoes, butter beans, peas, and cabbage. Not to mention that she had baked 2 belated birthday cakes earlier in the day for Katie and me. One chocolate and one coconut! Katie had a great time celebrating again...this time with her cousins!



Going home gives me such a connection to my past and reminds me how I need to keep my foundation firmly rooted for the future.

God bless my very sweet family.
Embrace Home,
Ginger