How does the harvester always know when we’re in a hurry? The girls did their first lessons in the office while Bearhands waged battle against the glitchy harvester. The girls had finished their school work by the time Bearhands declared defeat – the window for us to inspect a truck we’d arranged to see was closing.
Made it to Wacol with minutes to spare and immediately knew the truck was too small for our needs. Got back in the car and headed to our ultimate destination – Black Duck Creek.
The girls have been so excited since I arranged to visit my brother and his family who have been isolating at Mum and Dad’s property west of Gatton, which I’d checked (and checked again at Bearhands’ insistence) is within the 150km radius of our own farm.
PreCOVID life always throws obstacles that make it too hard to visit. My brother Ant performs in a show that performs at country shows across the country, so he’s often away on the weekend. By the time we add the girls’ soccer and our own commitments to our farm, we need all the planets to align to visit, and that last happened in November last year.
I shed a few quiet tears in the passenger seat as the roads narrowed and we neared the farm. So much of the drive remains unchanged from my childhood and the memories of David are strong. A call from my Mum telling us that my nephew had woken from his sleep and was ready to play set me on the right track.
There’s no service for me at the farm, so we turned the corner and my phone became a camera. My nephew did an excited dance on the tank as we crossed the creek and headed up to the house.
Lots of hugs for the kids and the adults. Then the kids set off to see Lucy (the poddy calf we raised years ago) and her new calf. We cracked a beer and my brother headed off to turn over hay they’re preparing for bailing. When my newest nephew woke from his sleep we found him to be even more adorable than he was when we saw him at Christmas.
The girls read bedtime stories and that adults sat around the table, opening bottle after bottle of the good stuff; enjoying each others company. So wonderful to be all together after so long.
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