I Had a Farm in Nooksack

Last night, we started watching "Out of Africa".  At the beginning, Meryl Streep says:

I had a farm in Africa.  She said it with such feeling, it embraced everything I felt and the tears began to fall.  She said it two more times, and I was a goner.

I had a farm in Nooksack.

Leaving here was the hardest thing I ever did.

When my husband inherited a half interest in this farm in 1996, it was a derelict former dairy farm.

We maintained it for two years, with occasional visits, but it sat vacant during that time.

 Then we discovered alpacas.  We bought our first alpacas in 1998 and proceeded to convert the dairy farm to an alpaca friendly environment.  I moved to the farm in 2001 with 21 alpacas while my husband continued to work in Seattle and visit on the weekends to do the remodeling and heavy work.  I was there mostly by myself for 7 years before he retired.

I converted the grounds to a showcase, and created a business and store.

 The farm became a destination for tourists, including busloads from Seattle, Bellingham, and Canada.

Then my husband died in 2010, right before Christmas and my life was changed.

Leaving the farm was hard enough, but leaving the community was the worst.  The life I had in Nooksack was idyllic in many ways.  I had so many friends, and my church was the best.

More than anything, though, I needed to be closer to my family.

I was gratified the other day in talking with my son about it all, and he told me how relieved he and his brother were that I moved.  They worried so much about me there, and it was so difficult for them to come for a visit.

There were many factors involved in my halving to leave.

But I have found new happiness in my life with my new husband and my new community.

And I am happy to be closer to my family.