When we lived in Madison, WI during the 70's, a special outing for my husband and me was to take the time and gas money (our time and pennies were precious with both of us being graduate students) to drive out to Goose Pond Sanctuary, where the Madison Audubon Society had an old farm house, a big pond, a prairie restoration project in progress. Plain and simple, I fell in love with the setting. I remember the instant I knew I would be content and happy if I could be the caretaker for that land and pond and house forever.
To that dream, we added the farm we also wanted to start in the 70's, so our farm, which we finally started when purchasing this overgrown property at the end of May 2009, and our beginning pond project, my bird feeders and the '40+ years of projects' we want to do on this tiny spot on the planet is my own 'goose pond', a dream I never forgot. Maybe we should call ourselves Goose Pond Farm in honor of our dreams when we were young in Madison and just starting our life together. Hmmm, just musing on the keyboard here. I haven't even mentioned that farm name possibility to my husband. Maybe there is a reason our logo developer was sick today! :-)
I expect we'll stay with the name The Dyer Family Organic Farm, but it's nice to reflect where dreams started, how they may have changed or evolved, how they have staying power, and how they give hope for the future.
I know I am doing lots of reflecting in my recent posts. Moving does give one the opportunity to review memories. Getting ready for my older son's wedding (who was born in Madison) also allows me the special time to review the past decades. I am acutely aware of how fortunate I am to still be alive and well after all my cancer diagnoses and treatments, to have these experiences, to achieve dreams, to reach the happiest of life's milestones.
Here are a few photos of our 'pond', which right now is still a glorified mud-hole (it was actually our borrow pit for the clay we needed for the foundation work for the barn we built last summer). However, the geese enjoyed cavorting in it that day I took photos, deer drink from it almost daily and the yearlings stand up on top of the hills of dirt, and blue jays even have been gathering at the edge (doing what, I am not sure).
They are not in any special order, and I know the geese will seem small. The photos were taken through a dirty window, with a nice digital camera but no fancy lens, from a long-way away, and with some zooming attempts and a little bit of cropping. They are just to 'get an idea' of what I can see from my kitchen window looking at our own 'goose pond'. :-)
It is a start, and step, step, step, and it is headed in the right direction. That is all we can ask of ourselves!
No matter where you are in life, with a new cancer diagnosis or not, undergoing cancer treatments or long done, stage 0 or stage 4, I hope you have dreams, both personal dreams and professional dreams, and that one does not preclude the other, at least not for too long. In addition, I also hope you are moving step by step toward your dreams. :-)
"Cultivate your life - you are what you grow - inch by inch, row by row"
Diana Dyer, MS, RD
3 comments:
A perfect setting for a goose pond -- and perhaps, sanctuary for other birds.
Such wisdom as well as beauty in your recent posts. Step by step (yes) & in between several steps, taking time to pause & reflect to make sure you're still on the path.
I vote for "Goose Pond Organic Farm." The name "Goose Pond Organic Farm" catches the imagination and is memorable.
I liked Goose Pond Farm as the name but think it's important to add "Organic" to that name.
You have lots of red osier dog wood in the back ground of the pond, I see! I like the name Goose Pond Organic Farm....
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