Homestead hosting
Sharing with others is what homesteading does best, in my experience. “Many hands make light work”…is true. But also true is that when you put in the work, you’re blessed with abundance. And that abundance is meant to be shared. Meant to be enjoyed by a community, a family.
I love those old Little House on the Prairie TV episodes where the Ingalls family had some kind of emergency where everybody was called in from the town to help get somebody’s cow out of the ditch, or the hay in from the field before a storm. Everybody pitched in and got it done, and were exhausted, but with a deep sense of accomplishment after all the dust settled. That’s what homesteading is like in fairly predictable cycles.
Which is why you need to make time, to come together to enjoy the fruit of all those labors. Hosting events that celebrate seasonal highs is a great way to do just that. Here at Leto’s Meadows, we host an annual Fall Festival. Early September, with the leaves beginning to fall, I’m feeling that draw toward spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, cocoa, and decorating with amber colored mums! And that’s when I start planning the festival highlights.
Each year a crowd gathers here as the weather cools. And where there’s a crowd, there needs to be food! One way to incorporate a sense of community is to give an opportunity for folks to showcase their best recipes. Our annual chili cookoff and homemade pie contest is a fun way to not only sample the best in show, but celebrate the gifts and talents of new friends. Kids can run to and fro outside between games like apple fishing and pumpkin ring toss. And those bigger kids (their parents) can demonstrate that they’ve still got it, while sack racing ‘round straw bales.
Where there’s hot cocoa and hot apple cider, there needs to be a bonfire and hay rides. Those are a must! Sitting around the bonfire, somebody starts a song that everybody knows. And a guitar or two strums along. In the background you hear the hum of the tractor pulling the trailer full of those who rode under the stars, down around the lower field and back up to the gathering.
What I love most about hosting the festival are those snatches of a moment where the chili pots are almost empty, the pies have been reduced to crumbs and everybody has that warm glow on their faces. They are all just milling around, no agenda, the night air crisp and crackling. New memories have been made, and old friendships strengthened. Families are enjoying the antics of their kids, knowing that they will instantly fall asleep in the car on their ride home. Fresh air and good food has a way of doing that.
By the night’s end, my face seems to be permanently in that happy smile that has seen all our friends and neighbors in their flannel coats with rosy cheeks, holding warm cups & bowls of something yummy. I say all our friends and neighbors…but another high for me each year is that we continue to meet new folks. People love to invite their friends to come enjoy the festivities. And so it grows.
And yes, there is usually something that doesn’t go to plan. Like the weather. Or that time the tractor trailer blew a tire. But you know, you just roll with it. Because it’s not really about that favorite bite of chili, or whether there were enough bags of candy corn to fuel your kid to the moon and back. It’s about being together. Doing it together. Saying, we’ve made it through the last 9 months. We’ve made it to the point in the year where things begin to slow down a little. The holidays will be here before you know it. Which is a whole other kind of work. But for now, we’re just glad to be here. Together. Side by side.
Giving folks that opportunity, makes the world turn here for us. Crafting moments. Fostering relationships. Sharing what’s in our hands. So, if you’re in our neck of the woods when the leaves fall and the air is crisp and bright, come join in the fun! And yes, there are port-o-potties.
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