Saying Goodbye To the Life we Knew

     Well, the auction is now behind us.  It's amazing that when you realize that although it was in the planning for more than a year and a half, how very, very quickly the day came and went. 

 

     It was strange...I have really done so little of the 'work' of farming in the past few years, leaving that to my better half.  But it seems like only yesterday I was the one out there!  Chasing the cattle, needling the calves, marketing the end product!  Wow....that seemed like another Lynda...the 'cow boss' !  Strange to watch that old life lined up and said good-bye to.

      I think one of the hardest parts for me was the dismantling of the cattle handling system!  Oh I fought hard to get that!  To get away from the shabby, dangerous head-gate and rough planked shoot that led to it!  Looking back over the years, I still wonder how it was that none of us were killed...or at least seriously maimed fighting with frightened animals to ensure they had the treatment or medication that they needed to remain healthy and strong.  On our best year, I was finally given the okay to pick out a system that would work better for us, and ensure that both the animals and the staff could work in an environment that had less stress and danger.  It was a wonderful day! And although I didn't think too much about the upcoming auction, and the life we were saying goodbye to, when I saw that system being dismantled and carried up to the auction grounds, I realized that we really were moving on.  There was a definite pang of sadness that went along with that reality.

Auction day Early morning lineup....

    One piece at a time, the possessions and tools of our old life went up on the block, and the bidders decided their value.  It was strange, and different, as a price was put on the treasures of our past.  But, in a matter of hours it was over.  The sale finished, the past released.

     We had made a conscious decision that it was time to move forward.  Age and health made continuing the farming lifestyle we'd come to know and enjoy both difficult, and sometimes dangerous.  And....so much has changed for us in the past few years.  So piece by piece the equipment was lined up to say goodbye to.  Machinery that had been purchased, tractors that had been inherited, and the memories that went with them.  

      It was time to move on, to branch out, to take the leap of faith that when we let this part of our history go, that there would be something new waiting in the wings.  Not necessarily something better, but something equally as good and different from what we've known.  The final call of 'sold' sealed the deal for us. There was no going back...

Now Selling..Going once, Going twice....

     I kept myself, and many of my good friends very busy throughout the day, as we decided to do the lunch at the auction ourselves.  Thank goodness for the support of friends and family, and some very wonderful neighbors from the Lavenham community!  We decided that any proceeds for the day would go to the Sunshine Dreams for Kids Foundation  It's a cause near and dear to my heart, after the joy it brought to Shane's life in 2004.  I decided that having a worthy cause to focus on for the day would take some of the nervousness out of the equation, and give me a chance to connect with most people at the auction one way or another.  It turned out to be great ...busy, but great...and collectively we managed to raise over $1300 for the cause through our efforts.  Hopefully our hard work will result in another child coming closer to having their dream come true, and life long memories created because of it!

www.sunshine.ca

So there we have it...feels like the end of an era on one hand, but feels like a world of infinite possibilities on the other.  All in all we were happy with the day, not really knowing what to expect, but still glad that it's behind us now. Its a lot of work, a lot of worry, and a roller coaster of emotions, but as with all other things in life, we were surrounded by people that wanted to help any way they could, and ensure that we felt supported throughout the day, in every way.  We are truly so lucky.

     At the end of the day, I headed back up over the hill towards the house, exhausted and feeling a little lost.  As I crested the hill, the sunset caught my eye, and I had to make a pit stop at my thinking benches to watch it set.  I captured the picture below, and was reminded once more, that I have so much to be grateful for, and a world of beauty and memories to be thankful for.  And the rest will figure itself out if I give it time and space to do so.  There is an open book in front of me, which is the next steps of my life...I can't wait to write on those pages of all the possibilities that await!

Sunset view from the Escarpment at the end of the day

Till next time,

Lynda

www.musicwriter.ca

Country Auction and Lunch Counter | Sunshine Foundation of Canada

Country Auction and Lunch Counter | Sunshine Foundation of Canada


Things are gearing up for a big day on Saturday!  We are saying goodbye to one part of life, while we look forward to the next steps!
All proceeds from the lunch counter at the Auction this weekend are going towards Sunshine Dreams for Kids Foundation, so join us if you can!  Will do a full update later!

Give the Gift of Dreams!

(link below)

Give the Gift of Dreams!

Sunshine Dreams for Kids supported Shane to have his Whale Watching trip in 2004, and it was a memory that created deep relationships and lifelong memories for all of us. I decided last summer to become a Sunshine dream for Kids Volunteer, in hopes of repaying some of the joy that we as a family had been given through their hard work and efforts. As our Manitoba chapter is very small, this web opportunity looked like the perfect way to support raising some funds and awareness of this wonderful organization, and to help me to give back to something that gave us so much!

Please take a moment to check out the link, and consider giving....Sunshine supports not only children who have life threatening illnesses, but also those children and their families who struggle with long term sickness and disabilities, among other wonderful things. Although they are celebrating their 25th year, they are not well known in Western Canada, and the hope is to change that!

Although this campaign was initiated to work over the holiday season to raise funds, I decided to make it my focus in January, when Shane would have celebrated his 20th birthday! As with so much, I do this in honor and in memory of him!

Thanks as always for your consideration!

Jann Arden's Journal....

Today was one of those unique days where most of the 'have to do' list had been tended to, and the 'wanna do' list had a chance to get looked at. Gosh, there are just not enough of those days I'm afraid!!! Anyhow, I had the chance today to spend a little time catching up on what Jann Arden has been doing lately though her journal on her website, and I have to tell you, it turned into one of those days where you end up thanking God for unanswered prayers...I love her, more like I idolize her..but I don't think I could ever have kept up with her life. By the time I'd finished reading the last several posts that Jann had made, I had a knot in my stomach the size of a fist, and so I can only imagine what the knot in hers must feel like.  She is so strong to deal with all she does.

The road I've travelled has contained a lot of twists and turns, and all those detours have lead me to where I am today. So no, I'm not touring the country, opening for any big name acts. And no, I'm not wooing audiences throughout North America, sleeping in a different hotel, in a different town everynight...but you know...that's just fine, because my heart tells me I am where I'm meant to be..as different as this life is from the dreams of a young girl with a song in her heart!

At the end of my kinda boring, quiet day today, I spent some time filling up my bird feeders and watering the flowers on the deck. While doing that I sang "Won't say goodbye" at the top of my lungs to my dogs and the wild cats that would listen. I realized that that song, written to sing at the funeral of a family friend who passed away a couple of weeks ago (Olive Tunski), will not touch the hearts of millions of faceless, adoring fans around the world. But it deeply touched the hearts of a few dear friends who needed to hear their pain expressed in words that meant something to them, and with that it did exactly what it was meant to do.

After I got things settled for Shane, I took my daily walk, albeit later than usual. I headed up to the escarpment, and stood, drinking in the beauty of that wonderful place for moment. As it was my stage, I had 3/4s of a harvest moon shining in a hazy cloud to my left, and the most amazing sunset (the mixture of tangerine, violet, fusia and pinks cannot be adequately described I'm afraid) illuminated the sky to my right. The stage that I get to perform on cannot be topped, I don't care who's doing the lighting! It's days like this that remind me not to even venture into the land of what might have been, or what I'm not experiencing, but rather to immerse myself in the beauty of the life that is, and I realize that I do have it all, right here, right now....I truly am one of the lucky ones, and it's nice to have a chance to slow down enough to know that!
Take care you all!
Later,
Lynda
www.musicwriter.ca