"Let Everything happen to you, beauty and terror, just keep going, no feeling is final." ~Rainer Maria Rilke
Ginny Neil
I am writing this January column at the end of October because publishing deadlines demand it. I don’t know what the winter weather will be, but I am praying that it will be full of lovely precipitation. The kind that comes slowly, lasts long and sinks down to refill parched water tables.
This past summer was dry. My Own Farmer says it was the driest summer he could remember since he started farming. Streams shriveled, rivers revealed their rocks and pastures crisped to a crackly crunch. Every week involved decisions about moving animals from one food source to another as we tried to find the right balance between making second-cutting hay or letting the cows and sheep into the meadows to eat the grass on the stem.
Ginny Neil
Then, Hurricane Helene hit Florida and traveled up the spine of the Appalachians. We watched in horror as our neighbors to the south were ravaged by water. We prayed and sent relief in any way we could. Having suffered through two record-breaking floods of our own, we knew the devastation our neighbors were facing.
We will never forget our own pastures being destroyed by rising waters and roiling rocks. We will never forget watching our animals struggling in the torrent, or hearing the eerie rumbles of car-sized boulders knocking together as the flood rearranged the landscape. We lost neighbors, students, friends and family. A flood of that magnitude changes the way you view weather, and maybe the world, forever.
But, the weather system that brought too much water to the south brought just enough rain to us. It was a resurrection rain. For two or three days, we were lulled to sleep by the gentle song of rain on our tin roof. Rain gurgled down gutters and filled dry ditches. Rain washed the dust off the rocks in the river and invited the trout to emerge from their deep holes. Rain raised the grass from the dead. The brown meadows greened and a new round of haymaking began. Neighbors up and down the valley rode tractors deep into the night, headlights slicing the dark as they gathered the unexpected gift of hope.
But, less than a month after Helene, we are once again looking at exposed rocks in the rivers and sinking streams. The rain saved us, but it wasn’t enough to undo several seasons of damage. Poet Wendel Berry said this about farmers and the weather, “Farmers farm for the love of farming. They love to watch and nurture the growth of plants. They love to live in the presence of animals. They love to work outdoors. They love the weather, maybe even when it is making them miserable.”
Ginny Neil
So, by the time this column reaches you in January, we will know if the weather smiled on us once again or held back what we so desperately need. Too little rain, too much snow, broken axles, stubborn sheep, failing fences, kicking cows: all of these are part of the privilege of living on the edge of a meadow in the lee of a mountain by the side of a stream in the company of animals. Hardship and blessing come hand in hand. It’s just the nature of life on Earth.
For those still suffering the effects of the hurricanes, I hope and pray that you will be able to look back and see that you made it. That you will learn, like we have here on the farm, to find a way through it or around it. That you will experience the grace of people who show up at the right time with just what you need. I hope, most of all, that you have discovered that you are more resilient than you knew or could imagine.
The incredible beauty and terror of living on a farm has taught me that I cannot control anything. But, when I stop trying to control my world, I am actually better equipped to handle it, and peace comes.
I don’t know if we will be wet or dry in the coming months. But, I will not waste today’s joy by worrying about tomorrow. May all of us look forward to the new year with hope. It’s gonna be all right. Whatever happens. It will be all right.
The story above first appeared in our January / February 2025 issue. For more like it subscribe today or log in with your active BRC+ Membership. Thank you for your support!