Experiencing Holy Week has certainly been different this year for all of us. As I reflected on Maundy Thursday this morning, I thought of the anguish that so many of us are in due to the COVID virus. In some ways it is not unlike the anguish experienced by Christ in that last week as he worried for his own life and the lives of humankind. For us at This Old Farm we have had challenges even beyond COVID 19. We lost our sheep barn to fire on Friday, March 27th. Because fire is part of our rebirth story as a meat processor, I know to look for silver linings. Where our meat processing fire was one of my biggest personal and business challenge, this fire and loss of the barn that sits right next to home sits emotionally in a different place. That barn is where my dreams to farm began. It sat on the farm property and housed our very first 3 ewes and a ram. It is where our first hogs were raised and where I have memory of thinking it was a good idea to load a pig while 9 months pregnant into the back of a pickup truck with stockades that worked for hauling the sheep. Let me tell you that only the sheer frustration of a 9 month pregnant woman in the heat of the summer gets that one done. This barn was where my kids grew up jumping between straw bales and climbing up into the eves to look for kittens. So when I look out the front door of my farm home I see the rubble that represents some of the pain of life. But this morning, after a terrible storm that washed some of the ash off the partially scraped concrete floor, I saw the future of a clean slate. Oh how that encouragement was needed after two hoists were sent out for repair this week resulting in having to back down our full harvest schedule and look for hoist solutions while experiencing the worry of large repair or replacement bill. The clean slate I saw as I looked out the window reminded me of the holiday we are about to celebrate. Easter is the holiday of new life and the possibilities afforded through forgiveness. I hope this Easter brings you renewed faith just as I have experienced personally. I hope you see human kindness surrounding you. I hope that you fill your house with images of the disciples eating with Jesus as he offered hope for all of humankind. While our family gatherings may be smaller this year as we safely care for one another, I hope those that are near take the time to rejoice in our new world and how we will all be reborn to see and appreciate the small blessing of life a little differently after Covid 19 has become a distant memory.
With much love and a desire to share both the good news of Easter and the Good Food we offer here at This Old Farm!
Jessica