Hidden Beauty

 "Think of all the beauty still left around you and be happy"         Anne Frank

Timber Creek Farm is starting to show it's age in some places. there is always something  that needs to be repaired, updated, built from scratch or held together with bailing twine and duck tape.  Recently I noticed this was true of  the sign at the entrance to our farm.  The sign was hand made for us by friends.  The design was one our family worked together on and holds a lot of memories of  times past.  Not too long ago, driving up to the barn, I noticed that a large hole had formed in the sign.  Since it was made from thick sawmill planks, I realized that a knot had dried and fallen out of the board.  I stopped and got  out to get a closer look.  Inside the hole, I noticed a lot of decay, like when insects are eating wood.  I was so disappointed.  I love the sign and I was sorry to think that it was going to rot away from the inside.  While I was standing there feeling a bit glum, a beautiful sight happened.  A little bird, probably a wren or barn swallow, peeped it's little head out of the hole!   It was so inspiring.  My whole perspective on the hole in the sign changed in a split second.  Seeing me nearby, the little bird took flight.  I stepped closer and saw that the inside of the sign was being used as a bird house.  The sign was providing not only a message but shelter too.  A dual purpose for the plain planks of wood that became our farm sign.  My mood lifted again.  Now when I drive up the road to the barn, I look at the hole in the sign and hope to one day see the little bird again.  

Anne Frank has been quoted as saying " Think of all the beauty still left around you and be happy."    I had a gentle reminder of this from a small little bird who made her home in a knot hole.  Hopefully, next time I look at the buildings that need repair and the fences that need new boards, I will think about the happy memories that time has given us on our farm and rejoice in the beauty of  the weathered  buildings.  


shared on..... The Self Sufficient HomeAcre