Hello, Nonnie

The setting is a family farm, located southwest of Sioux Falls, South Dakota. A girl who often spends time alone, amongst her imaginary friends that she created on paper, is also close friends with the animals who reside on her parent’s property. She & her Mother live alone mostly, for her Father is usually on the road as a truck driver. Among her monster looking, yet friendly faced creatures on paper, Kane feels very close to the cows, her horses & the chickens.

A modern day farm family, Kane grew up in. The cows, mostly females, had been rescued by her Mother from in-humane dairy farmers. Growing up, Kane never questioned why the family didn’t drink milk, like the other families around her. Instead, she advocated for the cows at school with her best friend, whom she had started the first vegetarian club with. It only consisted of three members, the two girls who were not only best friends, they were cousins, along with their neighbor Hank. Hank was the third oldest of 11 kids (big farm families were common) & especially hated the taste of milk! He was also a very compassionate individual who often be-friended the stray dogs in town.

In the morning, that Tuesday winter in November, Kane went about her daily routine. Mother-as she called her was a self-published poet & would oftentimes fall asleep on the couch. Kane was constantly inspired by her mother’s creative voice & dreamt that one day, she too would become a published author. Her dream was to showcase her drawings of animals throughout children’s books to show that there was another way, towards a cruelty free life.

This family was unique in the small farm town where they lived. Kane’s grandmother, who had passed when Kane was the young age of 10, was a well respected witch-medicine woman, you may say. The property they lived on used to be visited by people from all walks of life, who came from all corners of the country. Even though things had slowed down over the last year with Nonnie’s ( Kane’s nickname for her grandma) passing, the summers were still a gathering palace for festivals, workshops & travelers to; gather, perform, share, inspire & create a better world. This vision had been deeply rooted in Kane as a child & she did embody a sort of magic about her.

There were no other siblings on the farm, so there Kane was, pulling the soft, lavender-fleece blanket over her Mother. She quietly tip-toed to the front porch where she found her winter layers, to bundle up with. Midwest winters are brutally cold & packed with constant falling snow. The chickens needed to be fed & their water changed. The coop was located in the backyard & so she would need to walk around the south side of the house. As she set foot down the steps that she & Noonie had painted red only a few summers back, the sky had paint brush stroke effects in hues of of pinks, oranges & yellows. Moments like these were special to Kane & she never took for granted these views from the farm for granted. She knew in her heart that every moment spent in nature, on their land, was sacred. She was taught that human & animal species were all equals. All must be respected. While they technically owned the land, they really lived in the mindset & knowing that they were temporarily borrowing from her, the Earth.

With her pitcher of water in one hand & her flashlight in the other, she began moving again. As she made her way, she passed the apple, peach & pear trees after the vegetable garden. In the warmer months, the trees & garden were always abundant. Kane knew a great deal about farming & food prep which came in handy, often. Especially when presenting meat eaters with vegetarian options, she could really show how easy it was to live off a vegetarian diet! As she opened the gate, she greeted the chickens as she was delighted to see her friends.

As the school bell rang, later that afternoon, Kane was gathering her belongings to put in her backpack, when she suddenly heard her name called from a man’s voice she so fondly recognized. Alan, her father, had arrived home early from his last drop off in Pennsylvania. He needed to get home in time, to help his wife reload the burner in the basement. Sustainability was of utmost importance to them & so, they used the corn crops grown on their land to heat their house. As she gazed over to the burly Father dressed in all denim & smiling ear to ear, she ran over only to be welcomed by his wide open arms. She jumped right in, to feel his loving embrace. She had missed him dearly.

That night for dinner, as Alan was cooking his go-to vegetarian chili stew, he caught himself admiring the two ladies in his life. Feeling an enormous amount of love for them, he stopped for a few brief moments to recognize how grateful he was to be home again. Suddenly, there was a breeze in the air. All the windows were closed. Right away, he knew his late father was making himself noticeable. Alan didn’t always share this with his wife or daughter, however he wanted to in that moment.

“Grandpa thanks you both for being exactly the way you are & for taking such good care for this land, this farm.”

Dinner was spent in silence that night. Candles lit, smiles shared & bellies filled with fresh, organic food grown straight from their land & the land of their neighbors. Hours later, Kane was awakened, after dreaming of her Nonnie. One of their favorite pastimes was searching for four-leaved clovers. In this specific dream, they had collectively found three, a record. In an instant, upon awakening-she caught a flickering light in the distance coming from the main barn, where the cows & horses lived in the winter time. What happened next was reason enough for Kane to walk downstairs & go outside. The flickering that was lighting the snow on the ground at first, then beamed into her bedroom.

A sign this was & she knew it. Her grandmother & mother taught Kane that often, there is meaning outside the ordinary & that not all occurrences are simply coincidences. Mother & Father were sleeping upstairs tonight, together. She put on her bathrobe & beamed down the stairs, outside into the darkness. As she treaded lightly through the packed snow, she gazed not at the light which had stopped flickering. Her eyes were focused up in the night’s sky & within an instant, three shooting stars came beaming across the sky. At the exact same moment she heard a ‘hoo,’ the sound of an owl. She would later tell her Mother that the stars looked as though they were dancing!

As she approached the barn & peeked in before opening the door, there she saw six sets of eyes gazing back at her. “Are you waiting for me?”

Suddenly, it felt as if she was late, as if there was something, someone waiting there for her. Stomping her boots to rid them of the snow, she then removed her hat to shake out her hair from the snow that had begun piling up. Once comfortable, she looked back up to her (horse) friends' familiar faces. Peanut Butter, Almond & Cashew (as she named them), nodded their nose to suggest they wanted her soft kisses & gentle touch. This was typically how they greeted each other. Seven years prior, their special bond was almost instant, upon their arrival at the farm. Of all the animals, they were her best animal friends which she would commonly refer to as her long lost siblings- her family.

As about 10 minutes or so had passed, she remembered that it was the middle of the night & she was wondering why she was even there? She turned her gaze around as she could feel the energy of another in the barn. There, only about seven to nine feet away, perched on a stump under the only light gleaming out & down onto the layered ground of hay, was a white owl. She was not afraid or surprised, the feeling she had was almost neutral. Kane decided to take a few steps. She could feel a warmth growing near her heart & she didn’t want to scare the owl for it may fly away. For a moment, she didn’t know if she was dreaming or not.

She followed her intuition & next, closed her eyes. After a few deep breaths, she put out her arm as if to act as a branch. Within moments, the owl flew over & sat right there, on Kane’s arm. As she slowly opened her eyes, she spoke, “Hello.”

The owl winked.