How Fast Does a Tree Grow?
a backyard wedding, farm updates, and my favorite things || May newsletter 🌱
Last weekend, I stood in our backyard while the kids drove their go-kart around. School got out the day before, and they were already in full summer mode. While walking back to the house, did I mention I had been driving the go-kart? I paused, taking in my surroundings. In late spring and early summer, the sun sets perfectly over the hills behind our house, bathing the green field of wheat in a soft glow. This is my favorite time of year, when the evenings are cool, and the heat of summer hasn’t turned the crops from green to golden yet.
A thought came to me: The backyard could be a really beautiful place for a party. Or a wedding. A wedding for one of the kids. This isn’t something I think about often (or ever, actually). But as I stood in our backyard, I pictured one of the kids getting married here someday. (Full disclosure, I had recently seen photos of Ree Drummond’s daughter’s wedding on their ranch. If you haven’t seen the pictures, it was absolutely stunning. The flowers—my goodness! I’m not good at estimating costs, but my best guess is that the wedding cost A TON OF MONEY. That being said, I envisioned an understated affair in a much, much lower price range in our backyard.)
Rich and I planted about 100 caragana trees1 around our yard the summer I was pregnant with Rhett. It was one of the first projects we worked on together at the house, which was initially his house but became ours after we got married. We spent a day planting the skinny sticks by hand, a few feet apart, to create a windbreak. At the time, the grass in the yard was patchy, with cactus growing in spots, and it wasn’t much to look at. Now, those caragana shrubs are taller than I am, and the grass has filled in and looks more like a yard than the prairie.
Five years ago this month, when my mom visited after Nora was born, she wanted to buy linden trees to plant in the backyard—one for each grandchild. We visited a greenhouse in town, my first outing as a mom of three, and we picked three trees to load into the back of the pickup. We came home, and Rich dug the holes in the backyard. Rhett and Allie climbed into each of “their” holes, and I snapped photos of them, ducking up and down, before we firmly planted each tree into the soil. Then I had them stand next to their tree, so I could take a photo to mark their growth against the trees in the years to come. The trees have grown slowly, not nearly as dramatically as the caragana trees, but they’ve still grown. I can’t help but wonder how tall they will be in 10, 15, 20 years, casting shade over the patio.
I have no idea if any of the kids will be interested in getting married in the backyard. Or what their futures hold. But standing there, with the go-kart motor revving around me, their voices carried through the breeze, it was fun to picture a future evening in this same yard. But in this imaginary wedding, the trees and kids would be older and taller.
Everything would be different, but some things would remain the same.
Eleven years ago, as we planted those trees on that summer day, I couldn’t picture them bigger than the twigs they were. As Rich and I worked together, planting each tree, we didn’t know if the baby in my belly was a boy or a girl. And we wouldn’t find out until a morning in September when he arrived red-faced and crying, the sun rising over the city below us. I felt the same way after having him, unable to picture him as a toddler, or a preschooler, or the nearly 11-year-old he is now. We know it will happen, of course, but it’s hard to see beyond what’s right in front of us.
Maybe someday I’ll stand in our backyard with white twinkle lights all around, surrounded by family and friends. Perhaps the grass will be transformed into a dance floor, and guests will sway back and forth, the music carried on the breeze. Maybe I’ll watch the sunset over the fields, like I’ve done hundreds of times, but this time, I’ll watch one of my kids say their vows, putting down new roots. I can’t picture the bride or groom—it’s too soon for that.
For now, I’ll enjoy this summer with them at these ages. I’m certainly not wishing the time away, as I’ve learned that trees and kids grow faster than I think they will. Maybe someday, I’ll have a full-circle moment, thinking back to this summer and remembering my future vision, the echoes of their childhood voices carried on the breeze.
And even if a backyard wedding never happens, what a privilege it is to stand witness to the growth of the trees I planted and the children I grew.
Farm Happenings
This month, we wrapped up seeding—all the crops are now in the ground. We received a little rain this month, just enough to scrape by, but the forecast doesn’t look promising. The crew has been hauling grain to the elevators, emptying the final bins before harvest, when we will hopefully fill them again. Round and round we go, cycles and seasons on repeat.
The ranch crew hauled the cattle to summer pasture on the Canadian border. Two-thirds of the herd will spend the summer there, and the rest will stay at the home ranch.
A few months ago, we started holding monthly safety meetings to provide a brief safety overview of the upcoming season (calving, seeding, harvest, etc.) as a reminder of the dangers and to keep safety at the forefront of everyone's minds. This month, the entire crew attended a CPR and First Aid training session in town that we organized for our operation. Afterward, we had a team meeting where we rolled out our operation’s mission statement and core values, which the management team had been working on for the past few months.
Up next: hay season and preparing for harvest. 🌾
Things I’m Loving . . .
I read Emily Henry’s newest book, Great Big Beautiful Life. It wasn’t my favorite book by Henry, but I still enjoyed it. I started reading Elk Love: A Montana Memoir by Lynne Spriggs O’Connor, a local author. She reached out to me via my website, and we’ve since emailed a few times. I’m enjoying her book and reading about the area where we both live. In a double surprise, I forgot that I had pre-ordered Annabel Monaghan’s newest book (a perk of pre-ordering, it’s like a gift to your future, forgetful self). I received an email saying the book was on its way, and then it arrived four days before its publication date (thanks to the Memorial Day weekend, I’m guessing). So far, I’m enjoying her book, It’s a Love Story, a fun summer read.
For my farm friends, you need this t-shirt. You can’t tell me there’s a more fitting shirt than this one. I’m wearing mine on repeat. I kind of want to buy another one in a different color.
I just have to show up, keep doing the work, and keep my eyes on my own page and my own goals…whether that page is here or somewhere else; whether my goals are connection or creative expression or actual dollars. I have to believe in my own ability to do this, and to keep doing it on my own terms - because there will always be someone bigger, better-known, and better-paid than I am, sharing the same spaces. - Thoughts on “Making It” As a Writer On the Eve of my Book Release by
If you’re looking for a feel-good movie, I loved Nonnas on Netflix with Vince Vaughn. I also watched (for the millionth time) Top Gun: Maverick. Tell me a better movie. (I think it’s the best movie ever.) The music! The love story! The action! I cried in the same places I always do, no matter how many times I’ve watched it. It’s the best movie to kick off summer. I also binge-watched the new series, The Four Seasons, on Netflix. Since it’s a remake of an old movie, I wanted to watch the original 1981 version. I liked the newer one more than the older one (for the most part).
This book doesn’t come out until December, but I hit pre-order as soon as I learned about it—The Amazing Generation: How to Choose Fun and Freedom in a Screen-Filled World by Jonathan Haidt and Catherine Price (I’ve read books by both authors!). It’s a graphic novel for kids in 5th-8th grade about screens, and I plan to have my two older kids read it this winter.
The three of us walk back to the van, and while I know I’ve already said everything I need to say, and am grateful for that, and even though I want this for her so badly in the way I wanted this so badly for myself but never got it, my longing to hold her and never let go aches deep behind my heart.
I would never say it, because I really don’t mean it, but I don’t want her to stay here. I don’t want to go. And yet I do — I have to. - I Can’t Believe How Fast It Went by
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I’ve only used this new tinted moisturizer for a few days, but so far, I like it and think it will replace the Nars tinted moisturizer I’ve been using.
I found a summer reading Bible challenge, which starts on Monday! The plan takes you through the New Testament in three months. Join me?
Shameless self-promotion: I finally received my copy of the spring/summer issue of Trailblazher magazine. Ashlee’s pictures look so beautiful in print!
As writers, we’re told to pay attention to what our readers resonate with. And it seems that the posts I feel like I’m going to throw up when I hit publish are the ones that people relate to the most. I'm not sure if this is a healthy way to live as a writer, but I suppose it’s a good barometer. 🤣
I deleted Instagram and Facebook from my phone a few weeks ago, and I’ve been enjoying the break. I still check in every once in a while on my laptop, but it’s not as mentally draining for me this way. So, I have no writing to show there. I’m thinking I'll log out completely at some point this summer for an extended break, but I'm not sure when I’ll start that yet.
It officially feels like summer here—I can’t believe it’s almost June! It’s still dry. One thing (of many!) I didn’t know about marrying a farmer is how much the weather affects so many aspects of our life. Not only the crops and our livelihood, but also emotions, feelings, and moods. It’s a struggle at times to stay positive, but we’re doing our best.
In good news, my zinnias are popping up! 💐
That’s it for me this month. Your turn. What are you reading? Watching? Do you have any recommendations for cute casual tops to wear this summer? I need some new ones.
Until next time,
Stacy
I had never heard of these trees/shrubs until I moved to the farm. They are also known as a Siberian pea tree. However, they are very common in this area because they grow quickly and require minimal water. You see them in windbreaks and tree rows everywhere here.
Read only if you’re prepared to cry.
P.s. I have also told my husband that our forever house should have a backyard big enough that we *could* have a wedding there if one of the kids wanted 😉
I loved reading this. Such a privilege to bear witness to growth! You said it so well. Also, that Bible reading plan kids version is so cute with the treasure map. Will have to save that one!