This Country Life

 

This is easily the most common scene around our house.  Those three cats lay as close to the door as possible -they're strictly outside cats, but they try to sneak in every open door.  The second our first foot is out, they're on it like ants to Molly's melting popsicle.  Jesse assured me "they're barn cats, they'll just stay in the barn and catch stuff".  Right.  No, they're the friendliest, most people loving cats I've known.  I'm sure that's to be expected, though, because we did bring them home as kittens- directly into the arms of a loving toddler.  Yesterday, I glanced outside to see her rocking Dora (the female cat) saying "my sweet girl, mummy loves you sooo much"- yes, my exact words to her.

It's been such a wet and odd summer, lots of fall-like days and not enough sunshine.  These are fall blooming zinnia's- in full bloom the first week of August.  It's kind of concerning for four season dwellers like us, because my biggest fear is a longer-than-normal winter.  Jesse, the optimist, repeatedly tells me to expect a longer-than-normal fall.  Normal winter.  That, I can handle.

What I can't handle?  The GREEN tomatoes, in August!  We check the garden daily, but nope.  They're still green.  The zucchini are just blossoming.  The garden is in slow motion.  I guess it's prepping for some really nice fall squash and pumpkins, considering our farmer's analysis ;)

Daddy's corn.  It's pretty much a daily topic around our house.  We take long drives home to stop and check it out.  We scout out the number of deer and imagine the amount of damage they can cause.  We talk about the new combine and read the owner's manual for hours each night.  We envision the harvest around the growth and arrival of the growing babe (I should mention, that we're not into "planning" babies- Molly was born at the beginning of the fall, ie "harvest season", and this baby will arrive promptly somewhere toward the end.  Whoops.)

I have to take my camera with me once in a while to check out the corn, because it can be so easy to overlook the beauty that surrounds us, each day, in this small country life.  I'm a big dreamer, so it's sometimes hard to appreciate the little things, the season we're in, and not want to do more, see more. But if I purposely look at the place we call home, I realize that this is where we need to be.  No big vacations or travel, no fancy stuff, no access to Starbucks or Target, years of full time work in medicine ahead of me. 

"Jesus replied, 'you don't understand now what I'm doing.  But someday, you will.'"
-John 13:6

Plus, the air quality, right?!

Let me in on any good baby names, too.  We're strongly getting nowhere in the search for a name for this little one!