Usually when we come home from New York City, as much as I enjoy it, I’m ready to be back at the farm. Often we jam so much into a few days that I’m exhausted and over stimulated by all the sights, sounds and smells. I always find it freeing as we leave the tall buildings, pavement and congested streets behind us. I find myself relaxing as the trees replace houses, the traffic thins and the mountains slowly appear ahead of us as we drive up the Taconic Parkway towards home.
But this time, I could feel my mood sinking instead of lifting. I tried to think about what I would work on in my studio tomorrow then, when that didn’t help, I imagined seeing all the animals, taking a walk in the woods with Lenore. But it all fell flat. Even the momentary blue sky and sunshine felt depressing. It should have been as gray and gloomy as it was cold outside.
“Uck” I said out loud, “I’m feeling down.” I came to the conclusion that the trip it self and the days before it had been filled with such uplifting things that it was not unusual to feel low. The excitement of Kickstarter and Jon getting his camera and the relaxed couple of days in the city (we did less and enjoyed it all more), well, it all seemed to be over. And now I was coming down from a nice high.
I drove on in a daze, the trip seeming to take longer than usual. We stopped for gas at Stewarts and ate half a chocolate bar. When we got home the donkeys and sheep were at the gate. Simon and Fanny serenaded us with brays, the dogs clamored around the door to go out and the cats circled our legs. Little by little as I unpacked the bags, fed the cats, filled up the water bucket, shoved the manure out of the pole barn, started fires in the stoves, my mood lifted.
When I look out my window, Lulu is grazing the fallen hay from the feeder. Lenore and Frieda are sleeping together in front of the wood stove. Jon’s in his study writing with Red at his feet. The quiet, the slowness the settling in, back home feels good again.
Ah, the ebbs and flows of life……so nice to know that you had such a good time. Congratulations on the Kickstarter success!
The cats against that blue tiled floor is a striking image. Has a Caribbean feeling. Warm and happy!
Yes Sheila, I always think of the floor as a swimming pool, sparkling in the sun (when it’s clean anyway)
You captured the rhythm of the trip and homecoming beautifully. To me, nothing feels as good as home. Enjoy your family.
Maria, it’s interesting, your reaction to coming back home from New York City. I haven’t been down to Toronto myself for several years, believe it or not, having grown up there. The noise, the traffic, mainly, and what to do with my dogs for the day primarily keeps me up here in the country. But the city is exhilarating, like a shot in the arm to get the adrenalin going, the mind going, it is stimulating in a way that the country isn’t and yet, the country is like sitting with a peaceful friend. What it demands of you is not mental stimulation but physical stimulation in simply living there. Chores to be done that in the city would never occur and back home, back into the rhythm and pattern of life in the country, I don’t think it’s something I would ever trade, myself, for living back in the city. The city provides a high that sometimes lures you into thinking…could I live back here in the city…yet, the cost, for one, is so prohibitive these days, that what you have in the country, the space alone, you would never find this in a city, living cheek by jowl, with people. It’s the freedom, the space, the peace that the country entails that I know one day I’ll have to leave but for now, I jealously guard my time here in the country. It doesn’t take long to adjust when coming back home.
SandyP in Canada.
I’m not interested in living in a city either Sandy. But like you say it’s exhilarating.
Hi Maria,
ah! There IS no place like home! Good to leave, better to come back. The NYC trip must have had its interesting and unique moments with the carriage horses. The sounds of hooves on the streets does evoke images of Olde New York.
I am sure you will ease right back to where you feel your spirit. Bedlam Farm, the animals, your studio, all a magical place. What could be better!
Best, always
donna