Remind me to look at the back of my hair....

Can women not see the back of their hair - when the grey grows out?  I am sorry but I should tell you all right now, if this is ever me - please tell me!  I sat behind a woman at the movies the other day and I was just amazed that her daughter (I imagined) was sitting there enjoying the day with her mom (I imagined) and the poor woman just had awful hair.  It makes me wonder, it is easier to just ignore some situations when we get older than get in to a conversation about something that really doesn't mean anything - except to those of us that wish not to be in that situation some day.  Note to self, continue good personal hygiene.

A SURPRISE is a coming......

     Steve will be 60 in a few days - I keep saying that over and over because it really doesn't seem true.  If you know my husband at all, you know that a surprise isn't something that is in his vocabulary, and certainly nothing that would also include numerous friends and family telling stories about him.
     So - that is exactly why I planned a huge surprise camping trip for the weekend to Lake Cachuma group area, with just 50 or 60 of his friends coming.  I am having Macee and family fly in from Colorado, the other kids will come and still to this day, I don't think he has ANY idea.
     He really has no idea what so ever, yet right under his nose I have been shopping and packing and ordering and planning, texting and figuring and oh, we must not forget - spending money.  I have been sneaking away to get liquor, which by the way you can order online from BevMo and they will have it boxed and ready to put in your car - just so you can minimize the time you have stolen away from your "normal" life :)  I have ordered camping gear and sleeping bags and pop up tents and I have them stashed in the back of the Blue truck in the yard, right under his nose.  I have food for days, and liquor for weeks and party supplies that could start a small party shop - I have had a BLAST!  I have gotten RSVP by phone and text and in person (in code) right while he sits beside me.  There have been times that I was so excited that someone was coming that I started to say something and then had to completely make up another story because I almost told the secret.  It has been fun.
     So in a few days we will have been planning to go away on a camping weekend with our friends the Nooneys and then in the mean time I will sneak away to pick up the kids are the airport in Santa Barbara.  I want it to be fun - I want it to be relaxed and I don't want him to be angry.....  We will see :)

"Farmers Wife" like in a real farm? Yes.......

     It never ceases to amaze me that to this day when I mention something, anything about farming - people still look at me and say, "farmers wife, farming... like in dirt and tractors and stuff?"

Harvesting lettuce

     I suppose I take for granted that it is what my husband and his family have done for over 65 years in this valley, and as I type this, even I find that impressive and the years staggering.

     There are over 3200 acres of farm land just west of Lompoc City proper, that is know as "The Valley" that have in years past been farmed with beans and flowers of numerous varieties. They are now however farmed by my family mainly with vegetables such as lettuce, broccoli, cauiflower, celery and artichokes.  The following pictures are of a day that I noticed more activity than usual and I had my camera with me.  There is often much more activity and at times much less, but there is always something going on and I can attest to the fact that there is lots to do, schedules to follow and deadlines to meet in order for all of us to eat wonderful fresh, clean and tasty produce.
I suppose I really do take all this for granted, I love the smell of freshly chopped fields, and I love having access to the field fresh vegetables but it's hard work and Steve loves making all this happen. He's a very hard worker.

 Big John Deere tractor

     There is something about the process.  The working of the land, the digging in the dirt, the planting and watering and watching things grow, then the harvest and then starting all over again.  It is basic in a sense and then complicated in reality - the way the rows go, and the water flows, how much yield you can get and then let us not forget - the weather.  Before Steve I never paid much attention to "the weather" but now, I know it is an important piece to the puzzle.

     There was a time before I was married to Steve that has become a topic of conversation in our marriage.  Coming from Lompoc and then leaving Lompoc for awhile it became clear to me at some point that "the Valley" was a huge part of me.  During a time in my life that I was truly unhappy, I use to envision going down to the valley and just putting my hands in the dirt.  This became such a desire at one point, that on a trip to Lompoc with the kids, I actually went down and walked a field, put my hands in the dirt and as sad as it seems, I cried.  I believe that it had to do with the whole "roots of my being" feeling that all of this, that I had known my entire life and was important to me, had been slipping away in my life, and just putting my hands in the dirt and smelling the smells of some things that grounded me, made it all better.  I had no idea at the time, but that field that I walked and threw dirt clods in, belonged to Steve and the Guerra family.

       Shortly after that visit to Lompoc, I returned for good from Southern California - with two very small children, but minus a husband.  I returned to "plant" my family here and watch them grow, it was not at the time where I really wanted to be, or so I thought, but it was safe and easy for the kids and I - little did I know that in the next two years I would realize what a wonderful move it would become.

     I didn't know Steve when all of this was happening.  I find it very ironic to this day that the whole "putting my hands in the dirt" thing actually had anything to do with him.  I thought it had to do with my dad - he had always been in construction and dirt work, not farming, more like building, but I have always been able to close my eyes and remember how he smelled everyday when he came home from work.  He smelled like the earth - like dirt, not bad, just earthy, and I believe that my desire to just get back to basics and the honesty of simple things, the straight and narrow of life, was what I had been lacking and so needed to find again. 

     It worked, I found myself again and then two years later I certainly found it in Steve.

     And that is how I became - the farmers wife......   :)