Goodbye Family Farm?

My daughters and I are heading down south (that would be southern Iowa) to visit my grandparents tomorrow.  (My girls are especially blessed to have not one but 4 great-grandmothers and one great-grandfather still living.)  My grandparents still farm the same acreage my great-grandparents once farmed (it was sold out of the family and my grandfather bought it back about 50 years ago) and then some.  They are attached to the land and my grandmother says that grandpa will “leave this farm feet first”, meaning he will die there- and happily.

As I was thinking about our upcoming visit I realized that my daughters may be the last in this family to have a farm to visit.  Neither of my parents farm and though Doug’s brother technically lives on a ranch they have only a few horses (and it’s outside of Dallas.  Ick.)  It makes me sad to think that my grandchildren may only visit a farm through a school field trip or an outing to a place like Living History Farms.

It almost makes me want to buy an acreage and raise a few animals and a garden.  It would be more of a hobby farm, but that still counts, right?

When I was growing up I hated living on a farm because I couldn’t do anything in town (no Brownies or Girl Scouts, no after school birthday parties, very few sleep-overs) because it was an hour long round trip for my mom to pick me up.  After I graduated high school I couldn’t wait to leave Iowa for the “big city” and left the state for 10 years.  And now I’ve come back and come full circle- wishing for the quiet, clear nights in the country and a few acres to call my own.

Anyone else feel that way?

by Jody