The first photograph I ever took was through this window four or five years ago. I always loved the way the old farmhouse window framed the old barn, and this is what I looked at when I wrote my first book from Bedlam Farm, “The Dogs Of Bedlam Farm.” So I wanted to take this photo from the same point on the eve of my departure from here.

Many people are asking me if I feel sad, and yes, I do feel sad. And grateful and hopeful about my future and my life with Maria. The new farm is the right place for me now, and us now. Everything has its time, and I don’t want to degrade my time her with maudlin reminiscence and the easy self-pity that nostalgia brings. I am nothing but lucky and I am looking forward.

In my last hours here, I cannot even remember the impulse that brought me here, but it changed my life forever. You cannot leave a farm, and a farm cannot leave you.