The Greatest Place On Earth

Baby Chang, Prairie Dad and I just spent a week at the greatest place on Earth.  No not Disneyworld or Disneyland but on a farm.  This farm holds a very special place in my heart.  It has been in my family for over 120 years.

The farm is in Michigan outside a small town in the Thumb.  My Great, Great Grandparents purchased the farm in the late 1800's and my Grandparents retired there in the 80's (the 1980's that is).  As a kid we would spend part of our vacation time there nearly every year.  The older I got the more I cherished my time spent at this family oasis became.  By the time I was in college I would road trip to see my grandmother and to be rejuvinated at this special place.

It had been two years since I had been there.  In 2009 we stopped for a couple days when we were on our way to New Jersey for Pairie Dad to start rehearsals for Little House on the Prairie the Musical.  This time we had a glorious week.

We spent our time picking wild blackberries, feeding the neighbor's horses, eating blue moon ice cream and taking golf cart rides through the fields and the woods.  Just before my grandmother died a few years ago she purchased a golf cart so she could get out on the property.  This farm held the same magic for my grandmother as it does for me and prior to her death it was difficult for her to back into the woods.  The golf cart made it possible. Just as it made it possible for us to take Baby Chang back into the woods. 

The farm seemed to weave it's magic around Baby Chang as well.  She was able to run and play outside as much as she wanted something difficult in the apartment lifestyle we have.  Baby Chang definitely flourished and my Uncle thought she even grew significantly in the time we were there.  There were no notable two year old tantrums and she only earned one time out in the week a definte record.  I'm hoping she will love the farm as much if not more than I do.

I also spent many hours looking through old photographs, trying to identify relatives who were long dead before I came into this world.  A difficult task as you can imagine.  On many of the photos there is nothing to identify the person.  A few have the marks of the photographer or the city where they were taken.  I plan to do as much as I can to identify as many as possible but I'm sure many will never be known.  These are people who have amazing life stories like fighting the Revolutionary and Civil War or settling in territories that had never seen white men and women and trading with the Indians.  I wonder how many of my relatives I will come to know through this process.

A week in my personal paradise seemed barely enough time.  I'm already looking forward to the next trip hopefully in the fall or winter.  For now I'll just have to enjoy getting to know the people who loved this home before me.