Thursday, March 1, 2012

The 1st of March...


Dear March, come in!
How glad I am!
I looked for you before.
Put down your hat-
You must have walked-
How out of breath you are!
Dear March, how are you?
And the rest?
Did you leave Nature well?
Oh, March, come right upstairs with me,
I have so much to tell!


~ Emily Dickinson

The first of March...I can't believe it; wasn't it just Christmas?  (Did you say "Rabbit, rabbit" for luck?)
 I'm dedicating this post to my Dad, who, from the first frost, was always looking forward to "the first of March" ~ it was his catch-phrase; his mantra. It wasn't just nicer weather he was looking forward to...for him it signified the time to plan for the new crop season and re-plant his fields. It meant that there would be fresh green grass for his winter-weary cattle... so much more than just a date on the calendar!

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The collage above is from the last time I wandered around the farm alone, with just my camera in tow. I didn't think this parcel of land would ever be sold; had never given it a single thought ~ it just "was", like my Dad. Yet, here it would soon belong to someone else; through no fault of anyone's, it was just the way things had to be.

I tried to photograph the things I had looked at (and had taken for granted) for all of my 50 years; the barn ~ cypress ~ standing stately at the top of the hill...The sun shining on the creek, a gentle little current due to recent heavy rains...The ancient, mossy trestles, all that was left of a 19th century train track....Daddy's Martin houses and bluebird boxes...(I took one with me) ~ ♥
“A place belongs forever to whoever claims it hardest, remembers it
most obsessively, wrenches it from itself, shapes it,
renders it, loves it so radically that he remakes it in his own image.”-Joan Didion
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So, "Happy 1st of March", Daddy ~ it's finally arrived; another Spring (almost) ~though, where you are, I'm sure there are no hungry cattle, and the sun is always shining ~ :)
♥ ♥ ♥
Anne


 
I'm adding this post to A Rural Journal's "Rural Thursday" blog hop...I think my Dad would be pleased...♥

6 comments:

  1. What a lovely, bittersweet post. I always look forward to March too. :)

    Your family farm reminds me somewhat of the place I grew up on as well. We had a small hobby farm that had been my father's dream to own. He also worked at the Post Office.
    I just assumed that we would always have that place. My Dad died when I was 27 and the next Spring my Mother sold out. I can understand why she did but still, I miss it. :)

    Thanks for the great post and pictures.

    ((Hugs))
    Laura

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  2. Oh Anne! What a beautiful post!! Love that old barn and all the memories it holds. Thanks for finding me! I am go to follow you along now too. :)
    xo
    Caroline

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  3. Oh- A lonesome feeling post. My own father has been gone for many years and he, too, loved Spring...and crop planting and letting the cows out of the barn for pasturing. Our old farm is gone save for 40 acres that my brother still has. xo Diana

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  4. What a gorgeous post ~
    gave me chills. Do we
    really EVER appreciate
    something when we are
    in the thick of it and it
    seems like it will go on
    forever? Looks like an
    idyllic place that you will
    hold in your heart forever.
    Thanks for sharing it!

    Happy Friday,
    xx Suzanne

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  5. Anne,
    What a pretty and sweet post to your Dad! I love the barn.

    ♥charlotte

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  6. What a beautiful post! Consider how lucky you were to have known this lovely farm for so long. I hope the new owners will love it as much as you do.
    That barn is a really great structure.

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I love your thoughts and comments, and I read each and every one! Sometimes life gets in the way, though, and it takes me a while to respond...Thank you for understanding! ♥...Time is precious, and the time you have taken here is truly appreciated!