Matt and I went to a wedding in West Virginia about a week and a half ago and the setting was beautiful… there is a reason they call it God’s country… the reception was being held at the bride’s family farm and there was the sweetest little white church at the end of the road to the farm where the ceremony was performed… for as far as the eye could see there was nothing but mountains… fields… silos.. a few houses and barns… it looked like something out of a beautiful painting…

The weather was near perfect for an outdoor ceremony and the bride and groom had the sweetest vows to one another… I am one of those people who always cries at weddings because I think the idea of committing yourself to another person forever and ever through good times and bad is so touching… I looked over during the ceremony and off in a distant field a deer was grazing… it seemed unaware that a gathering of more than one hundred people was nearby… or perhaps it just didn’t care… the decorations were beautiful for both the wedding and reception… it was on a dairy farm so the centerpieces were beautiful Gerber Daisies in milk jars… the groom was from Pennsylvania so favors were little butterscotch/caramel candies called “Cows” and little “Hershey” Kisses… I told the bride and groom that Martha Stewart would be impressed with the attention to detail - the groom joked that Martha Stewart was actually his new nickname…

As the reception got started a storm began to roll in… not just any old storm - the clouds got dark and for a quick moment… I might have thought we were in Kansas if I hadn’t been surrounded by the beautiful mountains that looked like sleeping giants covered by green patchwork quilts… but the rain did not spoil a thing - we were all cozy and dry under shelter - listening to great music and sharing a good time with friends…

As I passed by a familiar farm on my way into work today…I thought about Jarrod and Stephanie’s wedding and then about how peaceful working on a farm must be… I understand that farming is not an easy job… long hours… sometimes little pay… relying on the forecast you are dealt for crops… perhaps a massive recall of a food item that you have nothing to do with but lose business because you make the same product… I know there are many obstacles… but sometimes Matt will out of the blue say… “I want to be a farmer…”  we both love what we do for a living… but what is that saying… you want what you can’t have?  It sometimes applies…

Something tells me that on the days when it is just a farmer, a beautiful sunrise and his cows he is not envious of the - high traffic.. hustle and bustle of blackberries dinging and office phones ringing that compromise many of our working worlds…