Quarantine life on the farm in Montana consists of an eclectic mix of fire stoking, cooking, reading, puzzling, and walks in the field. This downtime is much needed and has been a kind of reset button for us. Although there is the incredible disappointment of cancelled travel plans and a lot of unknowns about what lies ahead over the next few months, we are very thankful for a safe and cozy place to land. The geese, deer, and gophers are keeping us company, and my journal is seeing more action than it has in years. As Glennon Doyle said, “You have been offered ‘the gift of crisis.’ As Kathleen Norris reminds us, the Greek root of the word crisis is ‘to sift,’ as in, to shake out the excesses and leave only what’s important. That’s what crises do. They shake things up until we are forced to hold on to only what matters most. The rest falls away.”
Whit overlooking our orchard that we planted with her parents last Spring.
We went walking through the field for my very first SHED HUNT! I literally squealed when I found this. I feel like I’m becoming a true Montanan over here, haha!
We spent one morning doing a controlled burn of the brush piles around the farm with Whit’s brother. Don’t worry, we had masks and gloves on and kept a safe distance from him the whole time. He wasn’t allowed to touch anything in the cabin or even come near it! #SafeSocialDistancing and #SmokeyTheBearWildfirePrevention happenin’ over here.
An Amish community lives nearby and I must say, waking up to horses trotting by with their carriages in a magical sight.
Whit’s dad whipped us up a batch of the dry ingredients for his famous biscuits so we could have a little taste of home out here 🙂
I’ve been journaling like mad as well. Trying to make sense of all of the unknowns and disappointments, and guilt over feeling disappointed given my insane amount of privilege. Planning for the future right now is kind of impossible. We are so thankful that Whit’s family is letting us set up a home base in the cabin for the time being.
We have running water in the cabin FINALLY after the pipes thawed out two days ago. But there is no toilet, just an outhouse in the back. So we use this awesome Luggable Loo!
This cabin has been a safe haven and place of retreat for us the last week. Whit’s family has renovated this cabin and put in so much work to make this place a home. It is cozy and has so much character. It is truly a special place and we are so thankful for the chance to stay. Her mom cleaned out her pantry and stocked it full of food and alcohol before we arrived, and even brought some of the wine from our wedding. Her brother and sister-in-law restocked our food and water supply at the end of the week. The amount of work and effort her family has made to keep us safely quarantined out here is amazing. We couldn’t be more grateful.
