Amy's Old Pasture and Stomping Grounds

There have been a few moments over the holidays where I have really felt the loss of my mother. Yesterday, New Year's Eve Day, was one of them. I was out running errands and going to visit Abby, but I decided to include a visit to my parents' home, too. It's a lovely old home on nine acres that they bought when I was twelve years old so that I could have a horse.

We still own it, but a preservationist group (Wabash River Enhancement) is going to buy the property as it is on the Wabash River and wooded. Their plan for the land is the same as what they have done to other river properties that they have acquired - let it go back to nature, a plan my mother really liked and which my siblings and I fully support.

While we keep the lawns mowed, other parts of my childhood home are being allowed to simply grow naturally with no interference from human activity.

 It doesn't take long for nature to take back what was originally hers - this is part of Amy's old paddock! It is completely overgrown now with brush.

 This view is from the top of the driveway by the barn looking down the moraine at the highway (lower left.) If you look closely at the middle right, you can see the river. All that used to be pasture but is now becoming covered in brushy growth.

 Part of the lawn that we still keep mown.

This gigantic 300+ year old oak tree is beautiful, but it is also at the end of its life cycle and starting to lose limbs and decay on the inside. About ten years ago a large limb dropped off and went through the living room roof (the house is sheltered by this tree.) I am very leery when I am close to it - if someone were going to move into the home, the tree would most likely need to be removed for safety reasons. But since the property is going back to nature, and trees die and fall in the process, it is being allowed to die naturally.

Visiting my childhood home, one my parents bought so I could have my horses, made me feel close to them and gave me a chance to appreciate their generosity in making my dreams come true.

Happy New Year, Mom and Dad. Thanks for all you did for me.