In 1999 our whole family (nine adults and four children) moved from Shelby to Wayne County. For years we'd been moving away from the city and toward farming. Each of the four or five times we moved over 20 years, we'd end up with a little more land and a few more animals. We'd add a horse here, a dog there.

But when we made the Big Move, everything was different. We went from hobby farmers outside of Memphis suburbs to gotta-get-up-every-day-and-milk-the-cow farmers. Our lives changed. Don't get us wrong though, it wasn't for the worse. Here, among the farm animals, we've learned many things we would have otherwise thought impossible.

We've seen pigs dance just before the rain, whirling for joy. We've found out that lambs float. Happy, in the morning, running through the field, they'll jump high in the air, extend all four legs and actually hover.

What about the cows? They'll herd pigs if they get out. Really. And the horses? The horses paint the perfect picture of who we are and why we're on this earth.  When you ride behind them on the mower as it sings along, laying down the hay on the crisp pasture and their big hearts push their huge bodies forward to accomplish what you've asked, you know why you're here.