Fourteen years ago the farm became ours.
That night I wrote my very first post on this blog. It was brief. There was no picture.
The beginning
We bought a farm. After two months of waiting, a year and a half of looking and at least half my life dreaming, it’s ours.
This is the start of something.
“Something.” Do you feel the possibility in that word? I had no idea what might happen.
Now, “something” feels small to describe the past 14 years. My memories are full of people, projects, places, moments.
I’ve been thinking recently about time. When I tucked Ellie into bed on her birthday, I thought, “She will never again be seven.”
Never.
Time goes only one direction. When a moment is gone, we will never have it again.
I can’t go back to 14 years ago. I can’t bring back my Dad and all of our Saturdays working on the house. I can’t bring back Matt and our evenings together. I can’t bring back the parties, the walks with Baxter, the scratches with Ralph, the harvests, the sunrises, the snowfalls, the millions of moments that make up our life. I can’t go back for myself to the younger version of who I was. For me too, life goes in one direction.
But I can look ahead and do everything I can for this property and for Ellie and for the future.
Each day is a start of something. This property and the people who are part of it are so full of possibilities.
Home on 129 Acres 
Sad thoughts, but an encouraging post. I know exactly how you feel! ♥♥
Beautifully said. I look forward to your blog post every week. I have a recent follower. What happened to your husband, Matt? I tried to look back at previous post and did not see any entries. I’m so sorry. But I am glad that you are persisting and staying on the farm with your daughter and animals. I think it’s such a wonderful way for a child to grow up. I was in naval aviation for 20 years. And we always found that students who had grown up on a farm were more mature had so many more skills were critical thinkers and could work independently.
Good morning Julia on this bright sunny early March day. ☀️
In reading your post the phrase ‘onward and upward’ came to mind.
This is the definition that came up upon my search:
“Onward and upward” is a motivational idiom meaning
to make continuous progress, improve, or achieve greater success over time. It encourages moving forward after a setback or celebrating ongoing advancement. It signifies a positive, forward-looking attitude toward future goals or personal growth.
From what I know of the person you are Julia you do this very well.
Onward and upward. Words for us all to live by.
Have a wonderful day.
Hugs, Pam