Sunshine

By Christine Tailer
HCP columnist

I opened my eyes. The sky was just beginning to turn to gray outside the windows. I lay still and then heard the faint patter of rain on the metal roof. I was in no rush to get out of bed. I was in no rush to start doing my outside chores in the rain, so I lay still, daydreaming of what I might do on a rainy day once my chores were done.

Greg turned on the inverter from the remote control on his side of the bed, and with our 110 energy flowing to our electric coffee pot, the smell of coffee soon wafted up to the loft and beckoned me to head downstairs. There is nothing like that first sip of morning brew to get me motivated.

I thought it seemed curiously warm inside the cabin for an early winter day. Typically, when the fire dies down overnight, the cabin cools a bit, but not this morning. I checked the outside temperature on my phone. It was 62° and there was a 90% chance of rain. Yes, indeed. It was warm, and it was raining.

I pulled open my T-shirt drawer wondering which of my overflowing collection I should wear on this warm mid-January rainy day. No, not the one with a Lake Erie castle across the front, nor the one with a backpacking tortoise carrying a hiking stick, and not the one with a brightly colored parrot looking out at the world. Then I came to the dark blue shirt with a bright yellow sun emblazoned across its front. Now this shirt would be perfect for a wet though warm mid-January day.

By the time the breakfast dishes were set aside to dry and my first cup of coffee was finished, I was amazed to see sunlight pouring in through the cabin's windows. I stepped out onto the front porch. Bright sunshine fell all across the valley. Pure white clouds drifted across the sky from the south. The air smelled of clean washed earth. Suddenly, I could hardly wait to get outside and do the animal chores.

I soon realized that there was no need to even wear a flannel over my T-shirt. I was perfectly warm, and as I pulled hay off one of the round bales to stuff into the pasture feeders, I actually felt rather hot. With all the critters fed, water trough filled, and treats distributed, I sat down beside the round bale from which I had peeled the day's rations. I leaned back against it. The sun, still low in the sky, shone into the hay shelter and fell across my face. The smell of hay surrounded me. The sunshine wrapped around me. The day had become the most beautiful day I could imagine.

Chores done, it didn't take long for Greg and me to decide to go for a creek valley walk. The water ran clear across the rocks. Sunlight danced across the surface of the clear running water. We threw sticks to our dog as she swam and splashed. The rain-soaked morning had turned into perfect a day.

I smiled to think that I was so mistaken when I first stepped out of bed. I'd had no idea what this day would hold in store, but then my smile grew even wider. Perhaps I had known. Why else would I have chosen my sunshine T-shirt, and then, it occurred to me that perhaps the day had turned sunny because I had chosen the shirt. Perhaps it was my choice that helped to shape the day, and this day I had chosen sunshine. 

Christine Tailer is an attorney and former city dweller who moved several years ago, with her husband, Greg, to an off-grid farm in south-central Ohio. Visit them on the web at straightcreekvalleyfarm.com.