Lately, my mind has been filled with thoughts about a man I never had the opportunity to meet but who greatly impacted my life. He was an important figure in my husband’s life before we met, and I wish he’d known the ripple effect his life had before he passed away.

There used to be a TV program called Kids Say the Darndest Things. It’s a show where kids are asked questions such as, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” and they give honest answers – which are usually hilarious. One kid answered that question with, “a turtle.”

January is the month of “new.” We’ll be bombarded with slogans and advertisements for new plans, new diets or exercise programs and new resolutions.

I’ve shared before how we started: five unwanted cows and a Kmart corral. It was nothing to write home about, but we grew slowly on rented ground. It wasn’t easy. But do you know what the hardest part of the journey was? Breaking into the agricultural community as newbies.

Gardening was my only exposure to any agriculture as a kid, really. I understand it isn’t much of an exposure when you look at the expanse of ranching, but I loved the plants. It seemed so ordinary, yet miraculous.