The Farm

On Friday morning I woke up shouting “We’re going to the FARM!” This did not make the husband or dog very happy. But I was so excited to be on my way to Carroll County, Mississippi. Going to the farm meant visiting family, a crawfish boil, riding 4-wheelers, and shooting fire arms! The farm is better than any amusement or vacation destination. It is the Disneyland of Central Mississippi. It would be comparable to Disney World, but it is only one park, The Farm!

There really is something great about going home. Winona has changed a lot since I left for college and even since I moved to Huntsville. But home is what makes me who I am. You know, the stubborn, red headed, tomboy who doesn’t mind getting dirty or arguing from any point of view. I love getting dirty and playing poker. I can’t do justice to last weekend’s journey to the farm in my blog, but I will give it a try. The best way to understand life on my family’s farm is to just come for a visit one day.

From shouting at the top of my lungs to the drive down the Natchez Trace and stopping for crab boil in Tupelo we arrived at the hill close to two o’clock in the afternoon. It was perfectly timed for an afternoon snack of left over mac-n-cheese and prime rib. Not your typical snack, but Big Momma’s kitchen is always open. We did have to limit ourselves, because we had plans for “the Mexican restaurant” for dinner. It’s real name is something like El Cabrito but I never hear it called that around town. My mom had the El Big-o margarita and lots of cheese dip. Cheese dip and guacamole has become a family tradition.

Saturday morning was another adventure. Chris needed food so we stopped at Sonic before the coach pitch practice baseball game. Really, isn’t coach pitching baseball practice in the first place? Well the credit call machine at Sonic was down, so we had to give our only real dollars to the lady at Sonic. Needless to say we were late to the game, because our only real dollars were earmarked for the ball park. Game was good, but I wouldn’t have the patience to coach at that level. God bless those daddies!

Post game Edie and Mary Beth arrived in Winona for a warm up to the Camp of the Rising Son Mega Reunion in July with our own CRS mini reunion. We even had a ride on a gator. It wasn’t Babe-the-blue-airport-tug-converted-to-a-camper-hauler, but it was fun! We chatted and reminisced about our days as Chiefs. We plan to form the winning team for the first Camp Stew Cook Off! Iron Chef watch out, new series coming to Food Network, Iron Chief!

Late afternoon we had to clean mud bugs for the crawfish boil that night. My favorite part of this afternoon was shooting my new cowboy gun and teaching Lucy to pick up the dirty little crawfish. Fun! We even let Lucy and Reece shoot the cowboy gun. There was some excitement when Reece accidentally shut Lucy’s hand in the truck door. It was a scary moment, but I think all is good now and no broken bones. The crawfish was really good that evening. We eat it at the shop with the roll up door open on a home made crawfish table. Such good food! We finished the night with a little poker where I invested money into the Winona economy. Life is fun and simple on the farm. I love my time there.

Sunday we had to do some real work. Teach my parents how to use their new computer and patch up their old computer. This was fun and frustrating. We had to leave after lunch. That was the toughest part. I am sure I would be bored living in Winona, but I sometimes wish I lived there. It is a fun place where everyone is welcome.