By Anna Schroeder

The Sky is bright blue. I find myself in the cab of a huge combine in the middle of a soybean field. How does a petite middle-aged female artist find herself here? I grew up in a small town with views on life that I found even smaller. By the time I was graduating from high school, I was ready to burst out of those parochial bonds that seemed to tether me to an idea of life that didn’t fit me. I have to admit to being the angry young woman. I was mad at the patriarchy for women’s role in society, ticked off at religion and how they treated people and told you what to believe, and I was looking for a way to live in this seemingly inhospitable world.

I spent the next ten years living in different cities and traveling the world. I learned about different cultures, ways of belief and different approaches to life. During that time I was introduced to Subud and had gotten a degree in Art. With those two defining parts of my life I found I was ready for marriage and the start of a family. As an artist I had gotten along supporting myself . When I got married and had to raise a child My husband and I hit a financial road back of a tripling housing market. My father had asked us to come and manage the family farm. That offer became the next defining element to our lives.

The farm gave us a safe place to raise our children. It allowed us to grow and sell organic food, homeschool our kids, and have space to do our art.

I alined myself with an online school that gave our curriculum credibility so the kids could go on to college.

We also were able to show the kids animals that live here naturally like snakes turtles, fish, opossum, and a wide variety of birds. My husband would catch babies of all types and bring them in for the kids to see before letting them go again. Our woods is an old growth forest so we were able to teach about native plants as well. We also have an Indian mound on the property which gave us a jumping point for the Native American history in the area. The glaciers melted in this area depositing a great array of fossils in the creeks that run through our woods.The other history that we had to show from the area is the underground rail road and the quaker involvement in it. It was a great way for me to learn along side my kids.

The farm is a beautiful place and gave me endless subjects for my painting. My husband had space for a kiln and studio for his pottery. We sold his pottery at the farmers market along with our food. I got to show my painting in galleries in the area. Through all this we created a big bond with the area.

Now a widow and dating a local farmer I come back to this bewildering scene of me driving a huge combine. Thankfully he sees no problem with a small woman driving a big machine. So my place in this world is pretty open. I feel a deep connection to this beautiful land around me. The natural resources and the history give me a profound reason to honor it. That is how I came to this place, and this life. Thankfully it fits me.