For four short days every year, when I was a teenager, I became part of something bigger. It was bigger than me when I was 15. It is bigger than me today, at 47. Eastern States Exposition. New England’s premier agricultural fair. Every year, our state (New Hampshire), along with the five other New England states, sent a delegation of 4-H youth and their dairy cows down to…
My Dad keeps us afloat. It’s a very difficult job, but somebody has to do it! Always the caregiver, Dad, constantly goes about making sure that everything gets done for us. Property management is his forte. 🙂 When things get tough, he is apt to hand us a $20 bill, or start doing some task to help, under mom’s direction, anything to restore our happiness. If we are…
Happy Memorial Day! We celebrated in true “Cilley” style, a trip up to Back Lake, in Pittsburgh, New Hampshire. It’s a family tradition. It was a bit different this year. It was just Sam and me, no Tyler or Jacob. Tyler is interning in Michigan this summer at a very large cucumber farm. Jacob’s high school lacrosse team was in a big sectionals game. So, off we went…
Last week I took a trip to Iowa to visit the Iowa Soybean Association. I introduced them to the concept of finding the best donut in Des Moines (Bethany and Lydia were very good sports), and they introduced me to 2 of their farmers and Iowa soybeans. The trip was about overseas markets and the economic environment here. We talked about fuel costs and fertilizer costs and the…
In my household, I have a saying, “Know what you want to take with you, know what you want to leave behind.” If I could bring my mother with me, I would. For this Mother’s Day, I wanted to make a list of all the characteristics that I strive to take with me, from my mother. I attribute so much of how well my kids are doing today,…
This morning on my walk up to the pasture, I heard Spring. Birds… When I walked by the woods, I noticed the blue tubing was up — the sap lines were ready to receive and transport the sap run. In the air, a hint: The very faint smell of earth, gently nudged at my nose on its way by. It gave me an extra spring in my step…
Here are my 3 Valentine’s! Tyler, Jacob, and Sam. To be honest, Valentine’s Day is a day that I am challenged with. Not because I don’t believe in telling people that you love them, but because I know, for just as many people who are feeling the love today, many more are feeling just the opposite, very unloved. It makes me sad. Maybe today, you should consider showing…
I love watching my kids play basketball. Every year, it gets more fun as they grow, change, and all of the kids get better and better at working together as a team. It’s a culture also, an institution of going to games every Friday night in the dark winter months. Truly, it helps me get through the bitter cold. The games are about sitting in the same spot…
Good Morning! Happy New Year! From my family to yours 🙂 This is what I am thinking about today: Responsibility. Specifically, how it is going to carry us through the new year. I am going to go back to New Years Day when a friend of mine brought to my attention an observation that they made. I was very calm, allowing my 16-year-old to chauffeur my 12 and 19-year-old…
A week ago my middle sister sent me a text, “Who thought it would be a good idea to do picture books for Christmas??” Yup, here we are, AGAIN…December 12th and I still do not have them done, not even started! With every picture that comes into my phone, I feel reminded. And with every tick of the clock, I wonder how the heck am I ever going…
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