I’m super proud to announce that this is the three-year anniversary edition of Country Wisdom News! I’m feeling pretty darned appreciative that I get to spend my time on such a rewarding endeavor. Over the three years Country Wisdom News has been in print it has grown to serve both Ulster and Dutchess counties with good news about community, the home, and the land—and there’s nothing I enjoy more than publishing this content.

Not all of you happen to know that I also own and manage Country Wisdom Caretakers—a property management business that’s been around for seven years now. So, you see, summer is an exceptionally busy time of year for me. Caretaking is at its peak; and you can’t stop the presses! I intended to spend more time building support for this edition of Country Wisdom News—to enter the three-year mark with a nice, fat paper, brimming with local business ads and ripe content. Alas, leading my caretaking crew in pruning raspberries, tending to beehives, weeding and mulching garden beds, protecting sassafras, and planting fruit trees has occupied a majority of my summer days.

Fortunately for me, this caretaking work, too, is extremely enjoyable—connecting me directly to the issues we write about in Country Wisdom News and adding to my perspective about our region and how we live. So, while I may have not been able to grow in page size, I believe readers are all still growing from the information we get to share within these pages—and that’s what matters most.

The Country Wisdom team works together every month to share the knowledge of our collective community—working with our hands and our heads. If you are able to, please support Country Wisdom News with a September advertisement or donation to commemorate our three-year anniversary. Although I may not have time to ask you directly (‘cause I’m busy in the field), please keep in mind that I greatly value your support!

This month I had the great opportunity to fulfill one of my childhood dreams—to fly in a small antique plane like the Red Baron. After watching antique planes show their stuff at the Rhinebeck Aerodrome all afternoon, I met my match—a 1928 New Standard biplane. I was soon taking a private ride up in this open cockpit double winged plane with a pilot riding in the wind behind me. I took this ride with one of the bravest people I know—my eight-year-old daughter.

It’s interesting to note the difference in our perception of this experience. She felt as if she was boarding a roller coaster that a million people ride every day. I felt as if I was boarding a rocket ship to outer space that was on its last legs, from which I may never return. She excitedly looked down at the scenery while I hesitated to think about how high we really were and that there was no barrier between us and the hard earth.

When we got off, her first exclamation was, “That was awesome!” and mine was, “Whoa.” Now that a few days have gone by, I realize that a dream was fulfilled, and it was not just the experience of soaring through the open air. It’s witnessing the freedom of fully trusting in the moment. I watched my daughter laughing with delight as she let the sky carry her effortlessly. I look back and remember that feeling of security, even though it was hers at the time and not mine, and that feeling adds peace to my life.