On the Garden Path at 5~Acre Farm: Early Morning Hospital Visit and Breakfast Out

Monday, May 14, 2012

Early Morning Hospital Visit and Breakfast Out

My father had cataract surgery this morning. We had to be there at 6:30 a.m.! I couldn't believe it! But Dad was first in, and his surgery was over quickly.

The surgery went really well. It's remarkable how far medicine has come in just the last 50 years. When I was a small child, my grandmother Carroll had cataracts, and she wore those very thick "coke bottle" glasses. She still could see very little. I can remember my mother trying to point out a bird in the garden, and although grandmother was saying, "Yes, yes, I see it," it was obvious she couldn't. Now, they remove the lens and replace it! I don't know what they replace it with, but its fantastic. My mother had both eyes done a few years ago, and this makes both eyes for my father. Now? His vision is nearly perfect!

In recovery after surgery

After the surgery, Dad felt well enough to go out to breakfast, so we went to IHop. I don't get to go to IHop very often at all! Well, I've been three times since February (with a guest, after John's dental, and today), but before that? Years!

So we got home, and it's been quiet all day. All of us took a nap at some point, trying to catch up on the sleep we lost early this morning.

We're out early again tomorrow morning. Gotta take Dad to the doctor's office to get the patch removed. He'll be using drops for a while, but he isn't having any pain, and his vision will be just great within a week!

A hospital volunteer escorted Dad to the curb

Personally, I'm hoping Dad's vision will be improved by Wednesday. That's his birthday, and John and I are going to take him to a family-oriented pool hall for hot dogs and a few games.

Dad used to play pool often, and he was a real shark! It's going to be a surprise, so don't say anything! I'm hoping that once he has been there and played a few games, that he'll want to go back on a regular basis. It will give him something to do every once in a while, and keep him active.

On another topic, Maggie is doing great! She's practically her old self, and can't figure out why she is getting to stay inside all the time. We have to take her back to the vet tomorrow, so I'll give you an update on her condition tomorrow evening.

Have a good evening, and take care of yourselves!

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John and Michelle, and 5 Acre Farm

How We Came To Be

John was born and raised in Georgia by parents who lived incredible lives of their own, and passed on to John a rich family history from both sides. He was a die hard Boy Scout, and later, spent 17 years as a Troop Leader. He earned a dual Agriculture/Agricultural Engineering degree at ABAC in Tipton, where he also started the college's radio station. After college, John served on nuclear submarines in the Navy, where he once saved the lives of his shipmates, and, rumor has it, did many incredible things in the service of our country. He married and had a family, and after the Navy, worked briefly with the EPA before opening his own HVAC-Refrigeration company. John was inventive as a child, and that carried over into everything in his life. He is a fixer of severe mechanical problems, and an inventor of all kinds of things that improve on or simplify existing machinery, equipment, and ideas. His inventions are unique, and some of them may some day aide humanity, save lives, and save our planet if we can get the right people to listen.

My dad was career Army. I was born in France, and introduced, at a very young age, to the Virginia countryside, where we raised rabbits and chickens. After dad retired, we moved to North Carolina, his home state, where we spent many years on the coast, near Wilmington. Here, we had a garden, raised cows, pigs, chickens, and ducks, and fished commercially. Our freezer was always full of fresh Spot and shrimp, and oyster roasts were a weekly event! As a young adult I lived with my family in the mountains south of Asheville. Here too we had a garden, raised cows, pigs, chickens, and ducks, as well as geese and peacocks. I worked for many years with an arts council, Christian organizations, and other non-profits. I helped train missionaries, researched/wrote grants, produced professional documents, edited newsletters, and wrote a lot of publicity materials. I already had two Associate degrees, but in my late 30s I finally completed an undergraduate degree in English/Art History. For 20 years I was active in community theater, sang solos with a community choir, and danced with a show choir. Treasured memories! I moved to Georgia in late 1998, and married my first husband in 2002. I was 45. Eighteen months later, I was widowed.

John and I first met in 2000. After I was widowed, and John was divorced, we found each other again. Of like minds, spirits, and goals, our hearts came together quickly, and we married in 2005. Each of us has undergone Elijah House training, and we were both ordained into ministry in 2006. I have been a Christian counselor and prayer warrior for probably 30 years. John and I live to put God first in our lives, and in our dreams for this small piece of earth of which we are the caretakers.

We call our place "5 Acre Farm." John's father took this barren, overworked field from a larger parcel of farmland in the mid-70s. He fenced off about three-quarters of an acre for the house, and added plants, flowers, and trees. Elsewhere, he transformed the property through years of hard work, adding an apple orchard, peach trees, pears, two fig orchards, grape vines, and a greenhouse. John and I have been trying to continue his father's work on this land, adding to it with our own hopes and dreams, and our late-in-life efforts. Not a day goes by that I don't feel great respect for John's father, for the man he was, for the work he did here, and gratitude for the bounty we reap because of his hard work.

John and I are in our 50s, just starting life together, but with age and health trying to work against us. We aren't ready to sit down and take it easy. We have a goal to become self-sufficient by growing our own food (meat and vegetables), and getting off the grid. The challenges we face in doing this are age, health, and finances. John's inventiveness is being strongly applied, as is my gift for budget stretching and frugality. Our strength? The love we have for each other, and the trust that we are working inside the will of God.

One of the things we ask ourselves now and then is this: "Is it worth it?" I never had children. John's son has set his own path with family and career. There does not seem to be anyone we can leave this property to who will continue the work and the dream; one of John's grandchildren, perhaps, but they are very young right now, and do not yet notice or care.

So, is it worth it (all the work and expense) if there is every chance this land will end up in the hands of developers after we're gone? Well, our answer to that question so far is always "Yes, it's worth it." It's worth it to us, because of what we are accomplishing here in our lifetime. It's worth it because what we grow here we share with family, with friends, and with our community. And not just what we grow, but our faith and philosophy, our hopes and dreams, and our very desire to leave at least our little part of the world better than it was when we found it. We are living - consciously, and deliberately - a lifestyle that expresses who we are and what we believe. Does anybody care? Why don't read our blog, leave a comment, and let us know.