Our friends, Greg and Sherry, bought an old barn on a large piece of property in Minnesota a couple of years ago.  Since then they have spent a lot of time between here, Jacksonville, and there, making changes, clearing a few trees around the barn, and putting on an addition to the original structure.  Out of the old barn has emerged a lovely living space of two bedrooms, a bathroom, an open plan kitchen, dining room and lounge area, plus a nice comfortable screened in porch.

There is still a lot of work to do, but the main thrust is there.  The rest is mainly “accessorizing”: putting in permanent flooring, deciding on décor and finishes, and painting the exterior.  The barn-house is surrounded by woodland and even though there are two sets of neighbors living close by, the trees almost completely hide the other houses from view.

Five days into our retirement ride we stopped to visit with Greg and Sherry.  In fact we spent 4 blissful days with them in their “little piece of paradise” (my label). One element of this new habitat that I really enjoyed is that they have installed floor to ceiling windows in the dining room and on both sides of the spacious lounge.  This means that not only does a lot of natural light fill the home but it also seems like sitting in the middle of the woods – but with all mod cons!

While we were there, I spent my early morning quiet time sitting in a chair right up against one of these enormous windows.  With my meditation books in hand and a cup of herbal tea close by, I was truly in “God’s space”.  Greg and Sherry have placed several bird feeders within a few yards of this particular window and the morning activity was quite frenzied.  Nuthatches and Downy Woodpeckers vied with Hairy Woodpeckers and Chickadees as well as some small sparrows and titmice, while the hummingbirds buzzed in and out. I also saw a bluebird one day.

The squirrels up there were enormous, about twice the size of squirrels down here in Florida.  Although Greg and Sherry had installed a really interesting squirrel feeder for them, they still came and tried to access the bird feeders once in a while.  But they also had a plentiful supply of corn down on the ground because our friends also took care of the numerous deer that would come almost up to the house in search of food.  

Every evening at about 9pm we would spot movement out among the trees.  We would turn off the lights inside the house, and soon we would see the deer emerging cautiously from the trees and coming toward a large block of salt that Greg and Sherry had attached to a tree, and also toward a long wooden palette that lay close by on the ground piled high with corn. They are such graceful creatures and are a delight to watch.  One evening we were treated to the spectacle of a mother deer with her two young ones.

During the four days that we stayed, I also got to see an animal that I had never seen before – at least, not in real life.  I’m sure you’ve all heard them “singing” and maybe even seen them in an animated movie.  Yes, I’m talking about the chipmunk.  I was so amazed at how small they were!  I had always imagined chipmunks to be the size of a squirrel, but instead they are these tiny little animals probably about the size of a hamster.  They were very entertaining scampering here and there in the undergrowth. Richard managed to get some really good pictures one day as a chipmunk decided to sit on a small fallen log not far from the window and complete his/her morning ablutions.

Although they did not come into the yard, we also saw many Canadian geese and wild turkeys not too far from the house as we made various trips in the surrounding area. There were two very large fields on opposite sides of a nearby road that had been mowed recently, and the geese were there in large numbers mainly in the morning, probably more than a hundred at a time, feeding on whatever geese feed on.  The turkeys were usually in a lower section of the field apart from the geese.

It was such a joy to be surrounded by so much of nature’s wonders that God created for our pleasure.  I am so grateful that Sherry and Greg gave us such great hospitality in their tranquil haven, and I hope it won’t be too long before we can go back and enjoy it some more.  We have to go back anyway, so that we can see the finished product that is their summer retreat!