The summer has been a hot one. The type of Ohio summer that has you sweating through your shirt the moment you step outside. High humidity. Hot sun. Little wind. It’s meant that work down at the land has been put on pause except for regular maintenance like mowing.
The weather is starting to turn toward Autumn, and I am looking forward to getting back to my trailblazing and cabin work plans.
But summer?
Summer was (is) glorious.
For the second year in a row, we had a small group of friends come camp at the land for Fourth of July. Fireworks in the city are horrendous. You don’t have to be a dog to hate the noises. You can just be a normal person, going about their evening, and get jump-scared by explosions next door.
The first night camping it was just me and two of my most dearest friends. We set up camp and jumped into the pond, floating around, sipping on beers, and catching up.
The next morning was magical. We were all so intent on quiet reading time that I didn’t notice them move their tent to a different spot and they didn’t notice that I cooked my breakfast. It was so quiet. For hours. We read and listened to birds and insects and the blowing of leaves in the wind.
By lunchtime, E and Aunt G arrived. Aunt G was visiting from Colorado and the timing of camp worked out perfectly. She has told me so many stories of growing up on the land, and how the land taught her how to love and appreciate nature. She rented a big ol’ chainsaw and happily chopped away at fallen logs, cutting them for wood turning, while us kids drove to the lake.
Another friend met up with us at the lake and we spent hours on our kayaks and paddle boards, swimming and floating and gabbing. It was the best non-Fourth of July celebration we could’ve asked for.
Thoroughly sun-soaked and unsatisfied with how warm the lake water was, when we got back to Now At A Farm, we promptly jumped back in the freezing pond to cool off. E serenaded us with her violin on the dock while we had another round of floating and sipping beers.
We gathered around a cooking fire that evening, sharing stories and having a go at playing the violin (Aunt G surprised all of us with a rendition of Mary Had a Little Lamb). It was the break from the city we all needed.
That was July.
August came bearing gifts of mushrooms. E went down after a rainfall and came home with pounds of chanterelle and oyster mushrooms. We feasted for days on bounty from the forest.
Oh, did I mention we also feasted on wild blackberries? No? Well, we did.
September is just around the corner.
Jewelweed is blooming and spicebush berries are starting ripen. I can’t wait!
Time to get back to work.
Now At A Farm 