Green Acres Was the Place for Me

Green Acres Was the Place for Me

By Douglas M Midgley, J.D. 

I looked out upon the scene, to acres green. The bustle of life was all around. The horses, cows, peacocks all abound. Mom and Dad were there as well, expressing interest, expressing love, that words can never tell.

Flooded with fond memories, my thoughts have turned inward to time spent together as a family at our property then known by most of us as Green Acres. Mother on the other hand decided on a change in the name and so renamed it Scottsgate, after my son, her one and only grandson, the apple of her eye, who at that time was a young boy about to enter his teenage years. But, as I am sure you know, there's a lot of truth and homespun wisdom in the familiar saying If momma ain't happy, ain't nobody happy and so it was at Scottsgate, a twenty-five acre property my family then owned in one of Florida's more rural counties.

There was nothing on the property when first acquired except the typical native brush and foliage one would expect to find, such as palmetto bushes (fan palms), cabbage palms, sour orange trees, and a good amount of grass suitable for feeding cattle. So once owned by the family, the first order of business was to make the property habitable for the weekend get aways, retreats and family gatherings we expected to hold as our circumstances permitted. Dad went right to work. He built a large screened in chickee of contemporary design with thatched roof, cement floor and electrical service and provisioned it with a table of sufficient size to seat ten for meals, comfortable seating to relax in, a refrigerator for the food and drinks needed and an electrical hot plate so we were able to serve hot food. A small television set on which the local and regional news channel could be watched and listened to.

The barn was next, built from reclaimed wood found on the property. Beef cattle, a few chickens for the eggs and meat we could obtain, a couple of pigs and two quarter horses with the needed saddles and other required tack, was all purchased. We were also entertained by the next door neighbor's brightly colored adult male peacocks, with multi-colored purple plumage fanned and displayed while strutting along the side edge of our adjoining property.

It was not long after the completion of the barn, that we purchased our new manufactured homes and had them set up on the property. Mother and Dad owned and occupied one, and we the other. This provided suitable quarters for weekend and other longer getaways. Aside from the obvious change of pace from city to country life, the time spent there calmed jangled nerves and released built up frustrations accumulated from time spent at work.

A favorite activity after the sun went down, and the noise from daytime activities ceased, was to sit outside in the night darkness, where all was quiet and look up at the moon and stars smiling down on us from the clear cloudless sky above.

The tractor hummed from morn till night, running it was Dad's delight; While Mom her latest afghan in hand, looked out her trailer window to the land, that means so much to all of us. A place of rest - acres green and lush.

We loved that property and it was used by all of us in the family until the passing of Mom and Dad. Shortly after that happened we sold it. I have not been back since then to take a look at the property as it is today, preferring instead to rely on my fond memories of Scottsgate, our families rustic retreat of long ago.

Article SourceDoug Midgley's EzineArticle.com profile