Once Upon A Time

Once there was a little girl who discovered the books by Laura Ingalls Wilder.  The "Little House" series.
She read the books over and over, and over again.  Watched the TV series too. Over and over and over again.

The little girl wanted to be Laura.  As she moved into her early teen years, she sought out "prairie style" blouses and skirts at the local thrift store.  It was the closest she could come to dressing the part as she could get.

But she lived in the city, with buses and trains. Skyscrapers just the other side of the river.

Never in her dreams did she imagine she would ever be see a cow or chicken up close.  Let alone gather freshly laid eggs.  

Then one day, the grown up little girl found herself living a rural life.
With cows next door that calve every winter.

For a time, she had a flock of chickens.  Ducks too.
It was her job to gather the eggs.
Then it became her chore to feed and water them too.

One day a few years ago, she lost all her chickens and her ducks.
And she  has been quite sad ever since.

She dreams of rebuilding her chicken yard. To make it safe for them from all sorts of predators.
She dreams of having ducks again too.  Maybe even a goose. Or a turkey!
One day, too, she hopes her little homestead will have a pig again.

She is already dreaming of her garden this year.
Dreaming of seed starting, of planting.
Of expanding the garden this year.

Here is the journey of a city girl living a rural life.