What I like best about Tryon Farm isn't the homes or the people--both of which are excellent and some of which I'm related to--but the land that encompasses its 177 acres. When I'm visiting from New York with my wife and son, I take every chance I get to head outside and do something, anything. I can always find a project to do. There's tractors to start and chicken eggs to collect and trails to run. Sometimes I just head into the woods to clear my mind and see how many animals I can spot before they spot me.
Last fall my family hosted the Crescent Moon Festival at Tryon, and there was lots to do in preparation. Lucky for me, the job I most wanted to do was the one nobody else wanted: Build the bonfire. I quickly gathered my team in the late morning, and we all piled into the orange Kubota tractor. With my 4 year old son Cliff on my lap, and his young cousins Sophie and Gabe beside us, we rode into the forest to gather enough dry wood to make a giant bonfire. The crew worked efficiently and soon the old wagon we towed behind the tractor was full of excellent long poles and sticks of all sizes that would insure a bonfire to live up to its name. Lucy the Dog joined us at this juncture and barked approvingly at our efforts. Not for nothing the woods around my sister Polly's house were now just that much neater.
With our wagon full and midday approaching, I knew our best course of action was lunch. The Tryon Farm Army definitely marches on its stomach, and we could not have been happier to find upon arriving at 31 Tryon Farm Lane that our noses were greeted by the intoxicating scent of grilled cheese. Grilled ham and cheese with avocado to be exact. Served with cream of potato soup. Have I mentioned that my wife is a genius?! Just a dozen or so minutes later, I was lingering over my soup and enjoying every last sip of its magic potato-ness, when Cliff walked back into the dining room wearing his work gloves.
"C'mon Dad! Let's get after it!" he said.
Perhaps I've taught him too well.
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