Wednesday Morning Date: Part I

At the beginning of every season, I make a list of things I want to do (for example, "Things to Do This Fall"). I have actually gotten more done this year than I thought, but one thing I have wanted to do every year, and I never got to, is go to the pumpkin patch, particularly this place in Weston, Missouri called the "Big Red Barn". This week is the last week it is open as Halloween is on Friday, so Sean and I decided to get up early and visit. 

 The Big Red Barn is a popular venue for 'rustic' country weddings and field trips (there were two kindergarten classes visiting while we were there). The farm itself is owned by a family whose home actually resides as part of the farm scenery. In the summertime and part of the fall, you can even go and pick their apples and blackberries, and with a small fee they provide hay rides as well as animals you can pet and interact with. The whole estate sits high and overlooks the rolling hills and the surrounding area. Sean and I both agreed during our visit today that if ever we were to own land and build a house in the Kansas City area, it would definitely be around Weston/Leavenworth.
Below is a picture of their blackberry vines and the view. The best thing about this view is obviously the amazing colors. There is a peacefulness about being up there and looking out. I imagined that we had a home that we built on that hill or another like it but taller. And I imagined that the house had a large, wrap-around porch that we could sit out in the cold, early mornings and drink our tea and coffee as we looked out at the valleys and hills below. Maybe one day we will.

The Big Red Barn sells many homemade 'country' items like flavored honey, candies, jams, salsas, and soap. It's always fun to look at those kinds of things. I found this soap they had and it was called Cinnamon Apple Crisp. It smelled delightful and I thought about the happiness of smelling like a pie.

 Sean was quite excited to see the chickens. We've decided that someday when we put our roots somewhere, we'd like to have chickens and a large garden and all that. Perhaps even raise Angora rabbits. But the idea of having chickens is something that delights him most. He pointed out their cuteness and their varying colors and sizes. Who would have thought that he cared at all about chickens?

 They had a great variety of pumpkins and some of them were just bizarre and amazing. My favorite one was the brown, bulbous, moldy-looking one. It reminds me of Elephant Man, isn't that terrible?

 So this was bizarre and enchanting: A tree with pacifiers strung on its branches. For some reason, the mind automatically wanders to, "But where are the babies?!" The only explanation I can think of is that the owners have children and grandchildren and as they've outgrown their pacifiers, they've hung them in this tree to signify...something along the lines of being proud...? That's the only story I've come up with to make it seem less weird. So, y' know...just think about that.

This is just part one to our morning date because honestly, Sean and I only stayed at the Big Red Barn for thirty minutes or so before heading to Leavenworth to look around and have lunch. So look out for that post tomorrow!