Think of a farm and it conjures up images of idyllic green pastures, peaceful animals grazing, and happy hardworking families. There’s a reason tours in Amish Country are so popular….. we are entranced. Enchanted by days gone by and perhaps for some, a pull to connect with their roots.
The problem is, it’s easy to romanticize the past. We almost get this amnesia about what it took to maintain those pastures, feed the animals, and do all the many jobs to takes to keep a farm running. Raising children and animals on a farm can seem blissful, looking through a lens that focuses only on what we want to see. What is missed is all the hard work, long days, exhaustion, frustration, and setbacks that make up any life, especially a life on the farm.
My Great-Great Grandmother, Minnie Avery, lived her whole life in Tyre, Seneca County, New York. Born in 1862, she married in 1881, and raised her children on her husband’s family homestead. I often think about her and wonder what she was like.
I’m lucky though , because I do know some things about what my Great-Great Grandmother’s life was like. I have her diary from 1886 and in it, she talks about her daily life on the farm, the people she knew, how she felt each day . Her life was busy, as is mine. She had 2 children and was pregnant with a 3rd at the time she wrote the diary. She was often exhausted, overwhelmed, anxious, and lonely, but her life was also full of family and friends in that close knit farming community.
In our modern world, I have conveniences and advantages that my Great-Great Grandmother didn’t have. I have a grocery store that will provide food for my family, appliances to make my tasks easier, ways to communicate that eliminate anxiety and loneliness, and many more things that make my daily life safer and more comfortable.
So why would I choose to make my own butter and yogurt, when I can buy it from the store? Why do I hang my laundry up to dry instead of using the dryer? Why do I spin, knit, and raise our own food?
Why have I choosen a life on a farm, knowing what I know about it and having the ability to reflect on the past?
Why would I choose to do things the “old fashioned way”?
More on my WHY coming up….