I met a new friend here recently who spent a good bit of time just standing and gazing around the farm on his first visit. He finally shared with me that he could feel his grandfather standing next to him, and he was saying, "Now you can know me too."

My friend was quite young when his grandfather passed away and so has known him in only anecdotal context; the stories he heard were frequently of his grandfather's love and stewardship of his land and farm animals. I understand — the following post from last July will suffice as explanation. His grandpa and I are heading out to the barn.

July 30, 2012: My friend Mary commented about my purslane post, saying how her father called it "pigweed" and also harvested it as animal feed on his farm.

There have been many such connecting comments made to me over the years, and I frequently find myself saying I wish I could have known that person about whom the comment was made. It occurs to me that I do know them.

I know how they would have greeted the dawning of a new day filled with the wakening sounds and rich smells of farm life. I know how they would have spent that day tending to the needs of their stock and crops and thus tending to the needs of their family, friends, and fellow man. I know how they would have marveled at new life, be it a just-born lamb or the first blossom on a tomato plant. How they would yearn for rain, or warmth and sun to dry the fields. How they felt to be tied to the rhythms of life at its most elemental levels.

I know how, at the end of a long, hard, work filled day, they would watch the sun go down over their world, shadows lengthening, soft light fading, and know they were part of a Great Mystery that words cannot express but the soul can embrace. Mary, I do know your Dad and his essence flows through my being like a song.

Ruth Ehman has been farming her 53 acres north of Dexter for 25 years. Recently retired from a "real job," she now makes her living producing "real food" and teaching skills conducive to a small, diverse family farm lifestyle. Contact her at firesignfamilyfarm.com or ruthehman@live.com.