Have you ever been in love? I think anyone who has visited our farm has fallen in love. It’s hard not to fall in love with a place that provides a respite from the modern world and has indoor plumbing. I fell in love with The Farm when I was seven. My mother fell for the place in her early 40’s, and I’ve seen all other ages leave our homestead with a little piece in their hearts. Farming is an honored tradition that has been passed down from generation to generation across every culture. Farming, just like love, has been a pillar of human existence since we learned to walk.
I walk through the tenant house, and I can almost hear children laughing and playing jacks by the radio in the front room. It’s too easy to imagine a woman going through her daily routine of putting her hair up and spraying her perfume while her husband watches from the doorway and admires his beautiful wife. Of course, not every day was beautiful; farm life is often hard, but the way families got through it then is the same way they do now. By holding fast and loving each other. This Valentine’s Day, let us celebrate more than just romantic love. Let’s celebrate the love of families, the love of siblings, the love of putting in a hard day’s work to provide for your loved ones, and the love between a farmer and their animals. Love comes in all shapes and sizes, and this farm, although built in the present, is filled with echoes of the love of the past and of the future.