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pen_gruntDerrick and I were treated to the movie "Sweet Land" as an early, stress-relieving wedding present. We haven't seen a movie in theaters since...well...probably the last Harry Potter release (yeah, Derrick's a nutbar for all things Harry Potter). We were one of 3 couples in the theater, and definitely the youngest by about 20 years.
I have to say, what a beautiful little movie. It reminded me of "Under Solen" (Under the Sun) a sweet little Swedish film about a farmer falling in love. This was less about the love and more about the land, community, immigration and marriage troubles (not troubles IN marriage, troubles GETTING married). Appropriate considering that we had a snafu with our own marriage certification.
I was asked once why I wouldn't want to move out of state (in this case, it was a tentative-quasi job offer in Maryland). I explained that the land was in my blood. I am a descendant of farmers. We were only hobby farmers, but the farming is in my veins--and Derrick's as well. I know what it's like to coax food from the land. I know what quiet nights are like out on the farm where the frogs and crickets are surprisingly loud. I know a full sky of stars. I know snow up to my waist. I know looking off into the horizon and not seeing a single house as far as the eye can see. I know baby green fields that look like they're straight out of miniature sculptures. I know knee-high by the Fourth of July. I know the golden of fall, and the smell of spring. I know working with my hands and getting dirty, and the pleasure of coming inside to a warm wood-stove, a cup of cocoa, and finally cleaning up/drying off. This I know. I realize (and have realized for quite some time) that I am NOT a city girl. I can go through the motions and love THINGS about the city (and I can love the city for its novelty and light) but I don't think it will ever be in my veins. Cliche though it may be, my heart yearns for open fields and trees and grass.
This movie awoke something in me. It's set on a Minnesota farm in the 20's with a beautiful, pastoral (well, pastoral with actual work involved) backdrop. I yearn for the farm life. I idealize it, yes, but every time I go "back home" with Derrick's family, I want to stay there--gaze out at the fields and enjoy a farm house. We talked about who will take over the farm once his dad and uncles are done.
We think, though it may not be us (20 years is a long time to waste away in the concrete and asphalt), that someday we could have a son. Someday we could send him to Grandma and Grandpas for planting and harvest, and that he may learn how to farm and be infected with the same yearning and passion as we are. Someday he could take over the family farm. It kills me to think of the tradition of the family farm languishing in modern development--and to think that someday Derrick's fields may be overgrown and "useful" no more.
Oh yeah. Good movie. Slow moving, but quickly over with the desire to see more lingering in the mind. Something that makes you think about your roots and long for something else.
Thank god I'm a country girl?
I have to say, what a beautiful little movie. It reminded me of "Under Solen" (Under the Sun) a sweet little Swedish film about a farmer falling in love. This was less about the love and more about the land, community, immigration and marriage troubles (not troubles IN marriage, troubles GETTING married). Appropriate considering that we had a snafu with our own marriage certification.
I was asked once why I wouldn't want to move out of state (in this case, it was a tentative-quasi job offer in Maryland). I explained that the land was in my blood. I am a descendant of farmers. We were only hobby farmers, but the farming is in my veins--and Derrick's as well. I know what it's like to coax food from the land. I know what quiet nights are like out on the farm where the frogs and crickets are surprisingly loud. I know a full sky of stars. I know snow up to my waist. I know looking off into the horizon and not seeing a single house as far as the eye can see. I know baby green fields that look like they're straight out of miniature sculptures. I know knee-high by the Fourth of July. I know the golden of fall, and the smell of spring. I know working with my hands and getting dirty, and the pleasure of coming inside to a warm wood-stove, a cup of cocoa, and finally cleaning up/drying off. This I know. I realize (and have realized for quite some time) that I am NOT a city girl. I can go through the motions and love THINGS about the city (and I can love the city for its novelty and light) but I don't think it will ever be in my veins. Cliche though it may be, my heart yearns for open fields and trees and grass.
This movie awoke something in me. It's set on a Minnesota farm in the 20's with a beautiful, pastoral (well, pastoral with actual work involved) backdrop. I yearn for the farm life. I idealize it, yes, but every time I go "back home" with Derrick's family, I want to stay there--gaze out at the fields and enjoy a farm house. We talked about who will take over the farm once his dad and uncles are done.
We think, though it may not be us (20 years is a long time to waste away in the concrete and asphalt), that someday we could have a son. Someday we could send him to Grandma and Grandpas for planting and harvest, and that he may learn how to farm and be infected with the same yearning and passion as we are. Someday he could take over the family farm. It kills me to think of the tradition of the family farm languishing in modern development--and to think that someday Derrick's fields may be overgrown and "useful" no more.
Oh yeah. Good movie. Slow moving, but quickly over with the desire to see more lingering in the mind. Something that makes you think about your roots and long for something else.
Thank god I'm a country girl?
