Wonderful ramble yesterday - first non-sweltering Saturday in weeks - up to Farmhouse Tavern in Doylestown. Took lots of back roads, but none better than the one which took us through an all-too-few-left farm with sheep & horses & cattle.
It's our regular weekly run up to lunch in Doylestown. Pebble Hill/Wilkshire Road (one road, two names) never fails to delight. Over the years, we've watched a perfect Nantucket-style cottage expand into a more sensible but not quite so perfect house, applauded the sublime design of a fairly large garage/shed that looks like it's been part of another homestead for generations, worried about/then gave a high five to a new home built on a far-back meadow. And seen wild male turkeys looking for all the world like they were hitting on obviously unimpressed females!
This past spring was especially delightful, seeing a days-old colt with mama in the paddock that edges the road, having several enchanting exchanges with lambkins who seemed to thoroughly enjoy "Baaaaaaing!" with the best of them. We watched very young but not-so-little heifers sticking close to mom.
Such a kick yesterday to see those same heifers hanging out together in what we guessed is their equivalent of the mall - a lush green pasture; their adolescent attitude was impossible to miss, wanting to be on their own yet still tied to Mom. My grannie client pointed out that the dozen or so white geese on the banks of the farm pond mirrored the white clouds in the blue blue sky. And I had to keep my wits about me, driving past the entrance, as the hens & rooster seem to believe they always have the right of way. One disappointment was not spotting so much as one horse; it's been over a month since we've seen any of the 20 or so horses that normally roam the upper & lower pastures - are they at equine camp?
What happiness to savor the joy my grannie client felt in all of it, to sense so vividly how engaged she was with everything literally around her Does her a world of good to drive through the Pennypack Watershed, along small tree-shaded roads, to experience the changes we see at "our" farm through the seasons. Got me thinking about how too few olders get such opportunities for outs & abouts.
Perhaps that's because far too few people seem to realize how important it is for humans of all ages to experience the change of seasons, the change of day. Personally, I never gave much thought to the emotional & physical health benefits of taking care of our property, or hanging the wash out on the line, running on errands or just driving to & from work. All of which took me outdoors, out into what passes for nature.
FACT: Far too many senior "lifestyle"residences boast about all the activities they provide their residents, but neglect to get them out on nature walks or just sitting in a park.
FACT: People requiring "personal care" services (typically, ones with memory challenges) are, as a rule, excluded from outings, in spite of studies showing that people living with forms of dementia should be kept very active, should experience nature, particularly the change of seasons & time. If limiting access to such experiences is considered good "care management," maybe what I am all about is considered anarchy. If so, it seems to me to be a healthy anarchy.
Because Mom lived with us & Mom Murphy lived a basically independent life in her longtime Philadelphia neighborhood home, neither probably ever gave much thought to the fact that they saw the sun come up & turn noonish & head down & night fall. It was their norm. And both were sharp as tacks, right to the last. My guess is that both of them would have lanquished in a "lifestyle" residence. Can't imagine Mom M. without her beautiful rose bushes, or Mom not watching the "rosy-fingered dawn" rising out the front door, the westering sun setting out the kitchen window.
It gladdens my heart that my grannie clients can see a bare field one week, corn beginning to sprout the next, watch it grow higher & higher, see tassles where none were the week before. I wish I could fill my car & a dozen more with older ladies & gents, all checking out the adolescent heifers hangin' with their own but not too far from Mom. If only....
DIRECTIONS:
From York Road/Rt. 263 - turn west onto Sugarbottom Road, stay on road past the school, to where the road dips down & eases to the left; where it starts to take a SHARP turn right, come to a complete stop, checking both to your left (Pebble Hill Road) & right along Sugarbottom - it's a tricky turn, but worth it; turn onto Pebble Hill Road - takes a sharp right, past Kinder Works; the farm is about a 1/2 mile down Pebble Hill, which becomes Wilkshire Road & Ts at Edison-Furlong Road (Rt 611 is about a minute to your left, York Road is about 5 mins to your right).
From Easton Road/Rt 611 - at the traffic light before the Rt. 611 bypass (south of D-town), turn onto Edison-Furlong Road; stay on the road for about a minute, turning right at Wilkshire Road (I believe it's the second road on your right); where the road takes a hard left turn, it becomes Pebble Hill, which ultimately ends at Sugarbottom Road - turn left to take you back to Edison-Furlong or right to take you to York Road.
Blessings on the folks who own the wonderful farm
cradled in the crook of Wilkshire/Pebble Hill Road.
Its farm animals, meadows & corn fields provide
delight & a constant source of engagement!
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