I remember it was on a sunny day in September that I arrived at Pullman, Washington airport. Professor J and his wife picked me up and then we headed to Moscow, where I would attend graduate school at the University of Idaho. Sitting in their car and looking out of the window, I saw golden wheat crops sway in the wind bathing under the sun. “It’s beautiful here,” I said.
I stayed in Idaho for one semester. During that semester, Norma, my host family Mom, took me to her house many times. Once I, again, commented on how beautiful those wheat fields looked, Norma introduced me something called “dryland farming”. “You mean all I need to do is planting and harvesting and nothing else?” I asked. “Pretty much so. Mother Nature will take care of a lot of things,” she said. My conclusion of that conversation was: I wanted to be a farmer. After all, I am, sort of, one of them 😉
I was in love with the farmland. And I still am. Every time we drove by a farmhouse on a country road, I wish we could stop by to say hi to the farmers and, maybe, have a cup of coffee with them.
Last Sat. my neighbor Paul and Kelly invited us to Paul’s uncle’s farm. Their house looks exactly like one of those houses that I wanted to stop by! As soon as I walked in the house, I had that “this is home” feeling, which I don’t usually get from modern houses.
In the farm, adults didn’t check their phones; kids didn’t play with tablets; No beers and no soft drinks (as far as we could tell.)
Watching kids play, I thought of Mark Twain. My appreciation for writers deepened.
I had a happy day in the farm. Thanks to Paul and Kelly. Thanks for visiting my blog.
HHC Blog 
I enjoyed reading this. Thank you Helen.
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Thanks, Hien. You are kind.
Have a great day.
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Nice and inspiring, can’t help thinking of a farm trip after reading your article.
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I hope you do. So far, I have never met a farmer that I dislike. 😉
Thanks, Edward.
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No thanks, your articles and photos are always vivid and captivating.
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I can tell you had a happy day at the farm. 😀
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Thanks, Cee. Yes I was very happy. I am hoping that I will have a chance seeing harvesting. Have to bug my neighbor on that. Ha.
Have a wonderful day.
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Helen–your photos are wonderful. I especially like the last one of the two boys enjoying each others company and actually talking. It sounds so peaceful and relaxing…and I love the ‘this is home’ feeling you felt. That says so much about the family and the house.
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Thanks, Lois. I like that photo, too. I haven’t seen so many down-to-earth people gathering at one place. I felt like I was time traveling 😉 It was amazing. I need to visit farms more often.
Have a great day.
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It sounded like a laid back semester there. Farm life, life on the country, it’s simple. A time to immerse yourself in what there is around you. Those wheat crops sound heavenly, light and breezy. Maybe at some point you’ll get your own farm 🙂
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Thanks, Mabel. I think I am too old to get my own farm. Maybe I can rent a room from a farmer for a year? 😉 Norma takes her grandkids to her cousin’s wheat farm every August. I think I may visit her next August 😉
Have a wonderful day.
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You never really, really know, Helen. Never too old for anything. And you know, gardening in your own backyard is similar to farming, just on a smaller scale 😉
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Thanks, Mabel. Wish I could spend a day with you — you are a wise young woman.
I have an new idea. My neighbor has a big garden in their backyard. I will practice on their garden next year and if I meet my own expectation, I will have a garden of my own 😉
Have a great day.
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You write from the heart, I love it 🙂
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Thank you, Arlene. Thanks for giving me an opportunity to check on your blog. I really enjoy reading it. Definitely will go back soon.
Have a wonderful day.
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Thanks Helen 🙂
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Sounds like you should be looking for your own piece of farmland. 🙂 We all need inner contentment.
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Thanks, Draco. (How do you like people to call you?) Yes, we all need inner contentment, but people also say “be careful for what you are asking for” 😉 In this case, I am very careful.
Have a great day.
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Nice post 🙂 The feeling of content was written all over it and I felt like visiting a farm, too, after reading this post… :O
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Thank you, Eunice. It’s a relaxing environment. Hmm… maybe I was there at the right time. I really like to see kids playing in the yard instead of watching TV. 😉
You write wonderful stories. I enjoy reading them.
Have a wonderful day.
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Yes- be careful what you wish for is a wise saying. 🙂 But it’s nice to dream 🙂
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Thanks, Jo. I will keep dreaming. In fact, every Monday, I dream of walking with many who were doing the Monday walk 😉
Have a great day.
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Thanks, Helen 🙂 🙂 Autumn beauty is being blown away by Hurricane Angus this evening! Sitting tight!
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Oops my comment didn’t through wifi. If I remember correctly, I mentioned that we visited a 150 years old farmhouse. A family still live there, but did a lot renovation and repairing. Their grow their own vegetables, get goat milk… Great photos, Helen. 🙂
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Thanks, Amy. 150 year old farm! Wow! I don’t know how others feel; I do like to see some renovation. Is it possible to modernize an old house to be more convenience and yet keep the old characteristics? Hmm… I really don’t want to change the look. 😉
Have a wonderful day.
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Healthy food and technology detox sound very appetizing. What laidback and peaceful life there is. Something I’d definitely go for from time to time. But in all honesty, I was a city boy, and am a city man. 🙂
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Thanks, Rommel. My daughter is a city person too. I totally understand. I think that’s a good thing: some like city and some like country.
Have a great day.
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Sounds relaxing to unplug from technology and enjoy nature.
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Thanks, Marje. I’ll be honest. It is hard to live without my iPhone. Nature has that power of making me put down my phone… at least for a whole afternoon 😉
Have a great day.
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Yes you too. Have a lovely day. 🙂
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Beautiful post Helen, I agree life in a farm is completely different from the city. I love to visit the country side too, the smell, the green, eveything is so perfect. Have a great week!
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Thanks, Elizabeth. I can tell that you like the country side as much as I do. 😉 And that makes me feel good.
Have a great day.
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Lovely post Helen, poignant and with peace.
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Thanks, Jet. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
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Seems like such a refreshing trip, away from all the mediocrities of life! Wonderful, we all need a day like this once In a while 🙂
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Thank you, Zee. I agree. It’s nice to change scenery and meet different kind of people. 😉
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Helen I grew up on a farm on the Canadian prairies. Although my adult life has primarily been i cities there is something very beautiful and peaceful about being out on the land. It looks like you had a fabulous day being able to follow your heart back to this long time love.
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Thanks, Sue. Do you agree that people who came from farms are nicer? 😉 That’s my experience anyway. It’s so easy talking to them.
Have a Healthy and Happy 2017.
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Happy New Year
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One thing I love about your posts is that they remind me of good things in my life that I have forgotten!!! My first husband’s grandparents had a farm that was about 5 hours away by car. I had been raised in a city and the closest I ever got to farm animals was the petting zoo. Imagine my delight to be able to go to this farm whenever we wanted to visit. They had an orange orchard and cows, lots of cats, cherry trees, an avocado tree!! I never even knew avocados grew on trees and they are male and female. I mean, I was transfixed by it all. His grandparents sold bags of oranges, and people would come to the house to buy them. Then they would sit and chat for about half an hour. What a different way to live!!!
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Carol, it sounded like a wonderful farm… with orange trees, cherry trees, avocado tress. When I visited my daughter at Oakland, I saw lemon trees everywhere. It seemed that every family had a lemon tree in the yard. I was so jealous! (I am not picky. Any fruit tree will make me happy. 😉
I don’t know there is male and female avocado tree either. Very interesting! So you need two trees in order to grow avocado? So much to learn.
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