Time on the farm passes pretty quickly but not so quickly that I feel like we're missing much. We're always busy but because the family is always working together, or at least working or playing near each other, it never really feels like we're too busy for each other or to notice the little things. Not sure if I put that exactly right, but I guess that I'd say that it's a very special opportunity to be together and to enjoy the time together. Like the other morning when I was moving the cows with my youngest son Dan. As we walked across the pasture we were looking at the different plants that are in the pasture. We spent time looking at the different grasses and some of the few forbs (flowering/non-grasses) growing there. We noticed how the insects really populate and eat the forbs/flowers and discussed how the forbs are special in the landscape. How they add complexity to the plant community and give insects food that they wouldn't get in just a monoculture of grass and this in turn gives bird chicks concentrated access to the insects that would be far more spread out in grass if they are there at all. I'm sure that some kids would learn about that in school some day and probably see a picture of it in a biology text book, but actually taking the time to teach by watching little black insects crawling all over and munching a black eyed susan and seeing nature working the way it was designed to work with your family as part of your everyday life is nothing short of magic.
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