We've come a long way

My great grandma Ione was born in my house. Her dad, Warren Casterline, built our barn and granary. Ione married Floyd Anderson, and the two of them farmed. They had two children – Jean and my grandpa, Dale. (They were also born in the house. Home births – popular then, popular now!)

In 1918, they added onto the house and renovated. Dale graduated from Michigan State University, taught agriculture for about five years, got married, and moved to farm with his dad. My dad, Jack, graduated from MSU with a civil engineering degree, was in the army, got married, and worked in Detroit for about five years before moving back to farm with his dad and brother.



Our farm is a centennial farm. Our house is about 130 years old. I chose this state, and I chose to live in this house. Sometimes I wonder why my ancestors didn’t start a farm in (sunny!) North Carolina. Or I wonder why they didn’t put more than one electrical outlet in each room.

But also … I like to think about looking at the same views my grandpa saw. I like to think about walking on the same creaky stairs my great grandma toddled up. I like to see the beautiful non-code floor windows and caution my children about breaking them. (I’ll appreciate the windows more when they’re older!)

This was the sunrise this morning. I’m probably the fifth generation in my family to walk outside and run back inside to get my digital camera so I could upload it immediately and share it on my blog. Wait ... that’s ... quickly draw a picture and send it in the mail that took a month.

Well, I’m sure we’re sharing all sorts of other experiences - those windows are hard to wash no matter what generation you are.