Toby on his dad’s hock gear. He wants to go to hockey with his dad. he says, “Issa, take me with you! I will bite their goalie, while you score.”

The sun was high today and so was the temperature. Well into the 90s. If you are gonna tell me climate change isn’t real…. Just shut up. We lived it today. It was sweltering. I went twice to take a swim before the day was over. The evening was warm and sultry also and demanded another swim. We turned the lights on in the pool as the darkness descended. The surrounding woods came alive to celebrate with us, as the old growth trees looked like large shadows against the night sky. I think secretly they were amused and laughing at the multi colored lights in the pool. The old trees, became the backdrop of a light show rarely found in New England today. Few fire flies remain in this region. Very few. We are very fortunate that they like our woods. Someone must have tipped them off that 20 years ago today, high above the world, an unsuspecting young woman sat next to the most amazing man she had ever met. Way up, where they could look out at the world beneath them, he asked the most important question anyone would ever ask her. He asked, if she would spend her life with him. She said yes. And she was the happiest girl alive. The ferris wheel came to life and the happy engaged couple found themselves coming closer to earth. The ride finally stopped and they got off to go get some cotton candy.

This is where people say what about the ring? The truth is to hell with the ring. It could have been made of a blade of grass, or a piece of cardboard. I really did not care. Because you see, love and choosing a life partner isn’t about the jewelry. If it is… Then this is not destined to work out. He had wonderful taste. It was simple but beautiful. Made of white gold, with small pretty diamonds, none required or necessary. It came from him. It was given freely and as a promise of a future together. That was what I was accepting. That was worth more than fancy gems and gold. It still is.

Marriage…. Is like a ferris wheel. It has it’s ups it’s downs and it’s super highs and it’s ultra lows. It is full of people just doing their best to muddle through life without letting go of each other. No one is perfect. It can be messy. It can be hard, it can have it’s stuff. But if you can hold on and refuse to get off the ride…. in 20 years, the forest will give you a light show, as you swim in the darkness surrounded by old trees. Tonight, the fireflies gave us their all. It was beautiful. To be together, watching nature celebrate with us on this dying planet was a special moment. As if the earth herself was giving us a gift.

We have not yet been married for 20 years. It would be another 2 years or so after our engagement before we would tie the knot up in the white mountains of New Hampshire. So while today is a bit special to us, it is a lesser recognized special moment. But every time I think about it, even today when my hair has begun to grey,  I am awed by the bravery involved in asking such an awesome question of another human being.

We have been starting to think about how to celebrate when we do hit our 20th wedding anniversary… But we have not yet arrived at any decision. I think it too will be like my engagement ring. Far less important than who I am with to enjoy whatever it ends up being. 

A life is a thing you build together. So we have. Here at Wildflower Farm, in our red colonial farmhouse we call Red Bird Cottage, after the cardinal that has been visiting us since we first moved in. We have an old wood fired cook stove we call Katie, a maple tree friend that I call Tess, a greenhouse where I grow food through the winter and start seeds for the garden in the spring. We call it The Night Club, due to the grow lights. It looks like a night club all lit up. The pool, we call Puddle. Tonight, we named the long dirt and gravel road to our door, that makes us invisible to most driving by. When we were done swimming we took a short ride to continue our light show. We named the road in the process. Firefly Lane. If you turn off the road in the right spot, onto the tiny little barely visible Firefly Lane, and follow it, you will come to the gem of Wildflower Farm, Red Bird Cottage. I think it works rather nicely.

Fairlight napping.

But Firefly Lane, isn’t the only thing we have named lately. It wasn’t long ago that we lost our Pikku, and obtained a golden retriever, we have named Toby. In addition to Toby, we now also have an indoor maine coon kitten we call Fairlight. We are hoping she and Toby, will be friends. Introducing them however is a process… One we are still working on. But it is going well and we are taking it slow. This is it though. Our home is now complete. No more pets. 

Now, the sky has gotten truly dark. The night grows older as do I, as my greying hair stands in evidence. Up Firefly Lane, inside Red Bird Cottage, we sit down to rest before heading up to go to sleep. When the sun rises this lesser special moment will be past. But life together will continue on with our new friends Toby and Fairlight. Our farm will call us out into the heat, and we will spend some time in our pool yet again. And in the evening, nature will once again hold a light show. Because nature doesn’t know who we are. She simply does what she is going to do, and she runs on a cycle. One we are so very grateful to live so close to, together. I will leave this post here with one last image.

A meditation on togetherness.

Togetherness is a process, one we work on day after day, in which we get to experience the wonder of the natural world around us, because we live as we do together, up Firefly Lane, close to nature.

Thank you for reading.
Even the smaller milestones have meaning.
Celebrate yours, and know you don’t celebrate alone. Nature is everywhere…
Amanda Of Wildflower Farm