I was fresh out of college and couldn't really afford the $275/mo. rent. But there were few places for a young, single school teacher to live around those parts.

Every morning (4:30) and evening (4:30) the cows would line up to be milked right outside my trailer. Every now and then, I'd help in the parlor. I watched many calves being born in the barn next to the trailer. I'd visit them every day and talk with them. They looked so innocent and sparkling with their fancy, fashionable numbered ear-rings.

Despite the abundant mice inside the trailer and ceiling carpeted with resting flies, I sure loved living on the farm. The owner had about 500 acres on the east side of the Blue Ridge just outside Shenandoah National Park. I spent hours just walking though the pastures in the shadow of the infinite mountain view. Sometimes I'd be collecting creasy greens. Other times I'd be collecting ticks. Sometimes, I'd flush rabbits and chase them like David Wilson without the speed. Sometimes I'd just lay down in the middle of the pasture and look to the blue sky wishing that I hadn't grown up to have adult responsibilities.