Car Ride Conversations

We had a long drive to visit Emma’s grandparents today and it reminded me of the car rides we used to take to the camp in the Adirondacks that Emma and Sarah attended and where Peter and I worked for 5 years. About halfway through our trip to camp we would pass by the town of Half Moon, New York. I just love the name of that town and I could never resist commenting on how I thought Half Moon would be the perfect place to own a horse farm. For one thing, it inspired great horse farm names. I leaned towards the name Galaxy Farms. Galaxy Farms in Half Moon, New York – it has a ring to it, right?


The conversation would inevitably wind around to me conceding that I knew that at this stage in my life, I was unlikely to establish a horse farm in Half Moon, New York or any other town for that matter. It was at this point that Emma would say, “I’ll have a farm for you, Mom. I’d love to have a farm.”


The farm of Emma’s dreams, however, was not a horse farm. Emma wanted a more well-rounded farm, a sort of Little House on the Prairie-type farm. She’d have small numbers of lots of different kinds of animals. She planned on growing a wide variety of crops, but on a scale that would probably be considered a large garden in any place more rural than the suburbs where we live.  She would have a small orchard with lots of different kinds of fruit trees and would have blueberry and raspberry plants, too.  Of course, she would make good use of everything she raised or grew. She would make homemade jams, pickle vegetables, spin yarn and weave cloth. And she promised us incredible homemade farmhouse meals when we visited.


In part to lure me into her embracing her vision of the dream farm, she also planned to have three horses on her farm. She said that one of the horses would be all mine, and even allowed me to pick out the name. I said I would name it Sylvester McMonkey McBean and call it Sly, for short. She said Peter could have his own horse, too. He specifically requested a nag, something whose highest gear would be walk. He planned on naming his Buck-buck McPhee. Emma was going to have a horse of her own that she was going to name Honey. Sarah didn’t want a horse, but Emma said she could ride Honey whenever she visited.


That farm in Half Moon will always live on in my imagination. And when I visit that farm, Emma will be always be right there, waiting for me at the farmhouse door and beckoning me inside to sample her fresh baked biscuits and homemade raspberry jam.