Last weekend, after a long day of farming (more to this story but that’s for another day) I lay down on my bed, exhausted and in need of a nap. The weather was lovely so I had the window open and fresh air was blowing me into slumber. And as sleep was just about to take over, I heard a distinct CLOP CLOP CLOP CLOP! My eyes shot open just as a horse drawn carriage passed by my house. I thought to myself, well isn’t that the coolest? and fell asleep.
But when I woke later and asked the rest of the family if they had seen it, they all told me I was dreaming. I was 90% sure I wasn’t.
Maybe 80%.
But then Tyler was all like, “you know, I thought I saw one the other day when I was napping but decided I was dreaming it.” SO either we’ve been married so long that we are having the same nap dreams, or we have a neighborhood horse drawn carriage.
Fast forward a couple days and I’m outside on the phone with my neighbor, and she’s all “OMG the carriage is coming!” and we hung up so I can get the family. And it’s a really good thing my closest neighbors are like a quarter mile away, because I trucked it to the house, Opened the door, and screamed out at the top of my lungs “HORSE DRAWN CARRAIGE!” And had anyone heard me, they would have had serious concerns about the sort of things we argue about at our house.
Well, Donovan ran outside with me and we stood there watching as the carriage came up my road. And I suddenly felt super awkward standing there, staring at this man in the carriage, with his dog sitting next to him. And I then had the intense need to look anywhere but at him. So I looked at the ground. And then I just looked like I was standing at the side of the road staring intently at the grass, which is even more awkward. I think he decided to save me from my awkwardness, realizing that if you are going to drive a horse drawn carriage down the road in the 21 century, people are going to stare at you like you are in a parade. And he stopped to chat.
Except the horses were’t having it.
They weren’t the least bit interested in stopping and hanging out, and it was more of a drive by conversation in which told him we never saw things like this where we came from and he said someday he would give us a ride if the animals learned to behave.
And then I tried to take a picture but it’s not a very good one, because it turns out horses that don’t want to stop get really fast when you are running after them yelling “I FORGOT A PHOTO!”
So now, not only do I have a beekeeper for a neighbor, I have a friendly neighborhood horse drawn carriage. Which puts me currently at Coolness Level 10.
I am, however, beginning to doubt my Disney Princess status. I can’t seem to draw a single animal near me no matter how much I clean and sing with the windows open. They are definitely out there. We’ve seen lots of dug up holes and what we affectionately call “scat” (because that sounds way more Vermont than “steaming pile of poo.” ) We even put up our Ring camera to catch nightly prowlers but the only furry beast it has picked up is our mailman. (not that I’m complaining because the mailman always comes with packages)
I go down to the brook almost daily and look for frogs. There’s a pond down the way that my neighbor calls “Peeper Pond”. It is overrun by frogs. Apparently there are frogs called “Peepers”. Except, when you go to Peeper Pond, you really hear wood frogs. Which incidentally sound like ducks. Because nature is weird. But the first time we went down there, there were two ducks floating in the pond. Except we were hearing a hundred ducks. And we couldn’t figure out where all the ducks were. They couldn’t possibly be that good at hiding. When you hear 100 ducks, you expect to see 100 ducks. Not 2. It wasn’t until I came home that I checked out my New England wildlife book (books, people. They are never a bad idea) and found out about the duck impersonating wood frogs. I can imagine they are a ton of fun at frog parties. “This is my friend, Woody. You should hear his duck impersonation!”
But now, I want to know why my brook has no frogs. Are they all hanging out over at Peeper Pond? Or is my Babbling Brook too fast moving for them? If I were a frog, I would be all over riding the waves down my brook.
There’s also supposed to be trout in my brook. Which also apparently isn’t interested in hanging out with me. Because my water is crystal clear. I mean it’s so clear, it looks shallow. Until you put your foot in, and find out it goes past your knee. (Hush now, it only happened to me once!) (okay maybe twice) But regardless, if there were fish hanging out, you’d think you could see them. But I apparently have poor wildlife radar because I see nothing but rocks and sticks and water.
The brook though is amazing. It has a purpose for each of us. For Tyler, it’s relaxation. His entire Farmhouse Bucket List consists of moving the hammock down to the brook so he can sleep and listen to the water. It’s his zen.
For the boys, it’s adventure. Hopping from rock to rock, taking risks and seeing just how far they can go. Some places, we have found are easier to get to, than back. And that’s all part of the fun of it.
Calvin and I have both wandered down there to draw. Because for me, it’s imagination. I have found a piece of the imagination down there that was lost to me long ago. I swear we are all born with Imagination sucking amoebas in our heads and as we learn to be proper citizens of society and we are overloaded with all the things we “should” be doing to achieve success in all areas and be that person society has stamped “acceptable adult, ready for the world” on our heads when we graduate, that amoeba is slowing sucking all our imagination away. And then it gets worse because we are suddenly overrun with even more “shoulds”. The adulting, the job, the taxes, the chores, and don’t get me started on the “proper way to parent”. Before too long, you are no longer that child looking at the stars and thinking the big one is the star overlord, casting all the unrighteous stars down to earth to become measly rocks. Nope, you are the adult going “oh, that? That’s Jupitor.”
But down by the brook, where no one it there to influence my thoughts in what I should be doing. I found my imagination. It was hiding in a pile of stones that I’m quite certain are the remains of the Kingdom of Fairntasia. Burned down by a ruthless dragon, so that all is left is a few steps and a bit of the drawbridge across the moat.
Tyler thinks I’m a little crazy (but in a cute way). But he also likes to correct my singing when I sing the words to songs all wrong. So I’m thinking he is also an imagination sucking amoeba. And probably needs to hurry that zen along.
Well hey, this was long. I probably shouldn’t wait this long in between telling my stories.
