Well, 2013 is in full force, and we are slowly returning to old routines as VCU classes begin again next week. I am looking forward to this semester, and hoping that it is kinder than the last.
A new baby and now family of five, plus Sam's heavy teaching load made last semester as challenging as we thought it would be.
How shall I put this? Simply put, we've been getting our butts kicked.
Lack of sleep, temper tantrums (kids and adults alike), sicks kids, sick parents, tiny house, minimal alone time, whining, bickering, and talking back has taken its toll.
Christmas was wonderful, but the frenzied season itself was all-together too much, despite my attempts to shut out the stuff I don't like. I am looking forward to having the dust settle, having Sam teaching/grading less (read: more time at home), and settling on resolutions that include things that bring us joy, and scaling back on the things that don't. More on that later.
A long introduction to say, we ditched our tiny little house this weekend and went on a short road trip to visit the oldest plantation in Virginia. As Sam pointed out the other day, we've kind of been like a pack of wild dogs growling and bristling up at each other.
It was time to blow the stink off, so to speak.
So, Sam made waffles, our usual weekend breakfast, found a suitable destination, and out the door we went.There is nothing like a drive out to the country to lift your spirits, give you time to think, and freshen you up a bit.
The trip provided some fun photo opportunities for me, and helped kindle some creativity, which always feels good. I was so tickled to find this tractor in a harvested cotton field, and am now using it as the banner photo over at The Farm Table blog. There were many more photos I would have liked to have taken -- the country in Virginia is so beautiful, and easily forgotten about when you are in the city and suburbs. Sam advised against one photo I suggested taking that involved a sketchy house with a confederate flag proudly displayed across the front window where a nice flower box could have gone instead.
Best to just leave that alone "in these parts."
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What's left of the cotton in the field after being harvested.
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| Getting a head start on exploring, while I hang back in the car to feed Lee. |
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| The house is occupied by the 11th generation of Hill/Carter descendants. They live on the second and third floor, so we toured only the first floor. I wonder, do you mount a flat screen TV on the wall in a place like this? |
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| Robert E. Lee's mother, Ann Carter, was born at Shirley Plantation. We were not allowed to take photos inside, but she was wed in front of the fireplace. A tidbit about the house: you can see in the windows where the women of this family carved their name or initials in the glass window over generations to prove the cut of their diamond engagement rings. |
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| The former laundry house now serves as the gift shop. |
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| Root Cellar |
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| Cute Boy |
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| The kitchen was in its own building off of the main house |
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| The James River is off the back of the house, and where visitors would come ashore when they came to the Shirley Plantation. |
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| One of the women of Shirley woke up one morning to find wounded Union soldiers laying out in her lawn, while her husband was gone on business. She was informed that Shirley Plantation would be taken over as a hospital, and that she and her family were to leave immediately. Left to manage the plantation on her own, and not wanting it destroyed and pillaged, she was quick on her feet and made a deal with the Union soldier. She and her daughters would serve as nurses to the soldiers -- care for their wounds, feed them, and write letters to their loved one's, as many of them were dying and needed scribes. She had three conditions though: 1. That they treat her daughters as ladies (hands off!), 2. That they never step foot in the house, and 3. That they when they leave, they take nothing of Shirley with them. |
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| The picture taker gets her picture taken |
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| A bald eagle irritated with me for pursuing him. |
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| Someone ran down the hill and the momentum accidentally landed him in the bushes, making my heart skip several beats. You can see how close the James River is. He is running as fast as he can away from it -- fear can be such a good thing sometimes! (Sam got this pic by the way, when we saw he was OK). |
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| Smoke house |
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| "Y'all" know I have a thing for birds. This is a Dovecote, a structure where 28 doves could roost at a time. |
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| In this story though, the doves were used as protein -- their eggs and their meat. |
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| Ada was a little grossed out by this bit of news. |
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| Rocky the Rooster gets to live out his remaining life at Shirley, along with several goats. Rocky's owner, the woman holding him, has a couple dozen chickens/roosters at home, but moved Rocky to Shirley after he got in a fight with another Rooster by the name of Hot Wings and lost. Hot Wings busted off Rocky's spurs, so now Rocky gets to live out the rest of his days in the lap of luxury. |
That's it, folks. It was a nice break from the day to day, a beautiful weekend to do it, and we learned a lot while we were there. Our guide said something that resonated -- she shared that she never tired of telling the Hill/Carter family story, about how they kept Shirley in the family all these generations, despite a period of overwhelming debt, a war, and many other hardships -- she said what touched her about their story is that they understood that nothing is more important than your family and your home.
Even when we growl and bristle at each other, I know this to be true.
