The Perfect Ending

I can't even begin to tell you how happy I was today to be able to take my shoes off and walk around barefoot .... outside!
After making breakfast for the boys and checking on Seldom Seen's newest arrivals, the twin lambs that were born late night, I started cleaning out the front ditch. It is so amazing how much "stuff" gets caught in that ditch during the winter months. I got it pretty cleaned out... like I said it is amazing what I found.... leaves, sticks, gravel that the snow plow pushed overboard, and even two of the dog's toys that we have been looking for since the first snowfall. After rescuing the big bird squeaky toy and "the woolly thing", returning them to their rightful owners I went to see what the boys were up to. I was starting to wonder if the three of them were up to no good, since the whole time I was cleaning the ditch I had not heard one thing from them. They were too quiet to be doing something that they were supposed to be doing... or was I just paranoid?
As I walked around the corner of the house I was amazed to see that the two little ones were contently playing in the sandbox and their father was finishing up the project that he had started a few months ago... fixing the rusted out wheel wells on the pickup truck. I stood there for a few minutes just watching this peaceful picture take shape... yes I was in shock... they weren't into mischief after all. And they didn't even know I was there until Dawson barked his "hello" and came trotting over to me. It seems as though we had all been so involved in our own little chores that we forgot the others were even there.... it is so nice when spring gets here and we can break the confines of the house... the winter keeps us so cooped up that we sometimes forget to appreciate the fact that we have each other, and the fresh air and space of the outdoors is such refreshing change. After SO's project was done we sat on the bench in front of the milk house and talked... okay, I talked, he listened. I was telling him stories of the old man that used to own this farm and also stories about me family and childhood... I grew up across the road from this farm so it has always been home.... and this bench has always been there for as long as I can remember... I've always thought of it as our "thinking chair".