“Let your children grow up to be farmers.
Let them know what it is like to be free from fluorescent lights and
laser pointer meetings. Let them challenge themselves to be forever resourceful
and endlessly clever. Let them whistle and sing loud as they like without
getting called into an office for 'disturbing the workforce.' Let them commute
down a winding path with birdsong instead of a freeway’s constant growl. Let
them be bold. Let them be romantic. Let them grow up not having to ask another
adult for permission to go to the dentist at 2 p.m. on a Thursday. Let them get
dirty. Let them kill animals. Let them cry at the beauty of fallow earth they
just signed the deed for. Let them bring animals into this world, and realize
they don’t care about placenta on their shirt because they no longer care about
shirts. Let them wake up during a snowstorm and fight drifts at the barn door
instead of traffic. Let them learn what real work is. Let them find happiness
in the understanding that success and wealth are not the same thing. Let them
skip the fancy wedding. Let them forget four years of unused college. Let them
go. Let them go home.”
Jenna Woginrich
