“And I have promised to bring you up out of your misery in Egypt into..a land flowing with milk and honey.”
Exodus 3:17
Scripture meditation: So as it was written, so shall it be. As my own spiritual journey is working out of misery, so also I am being brought into the land of milk and honey, almost literally, as evidenced by the hike I took Saturday.
Saturday’s hike: Saturday morning I went on a hike set up by Denny Colegrove, a fellow member of the Asaph Trail Club, at Milky Way Farms in Troy, Pa. Guiding us on the hike was Jess Seeley, who along with her husband Shon along with his parents, Kim and Ann Seeley, operate a fourth-generation grass-based dairy farm, where the hike was. In addition to Denny and myself, also on the hike were Denny’s girlfriend, Victoria, Dave, Clair and Jen(n?), all members of the Asaph Trail Club.
I’m not really sure even how far the hike was, maybe a mile or two. That wasn’t the important thing this day. What was “important” is that it was a beautiful day. I carpooled with Denny and Victoria and on the way over, even though it was cloudy, it still was beautiful, with the leaves in full bloom for this time of year in northcentral Pennsylvania. We’ve had a strangely warm fall here, and Saturday was no different.
After we arrived and got the group together, we headed out and as we began walking a hill up to a waterfall and apple orchard, the sky looked dark, but as we climbed, it cleared, almost as if in anticipation of our footsteps. On the way up, we met Shon, who went on ahead on a four-wheeler to mark the way to the waterfall for us. He told us a little about his family’s farm: how they try to keep it as natural and organic as they can, with a cow that recently received an antibiotic being the first one to receive such medicine for at least 15 years.
When we got to the waterfall, it wasn’t much of a waterfall, with not much water flowing, but nonetheless, it still was pretty and we all stopped to check it out. We then journeyed to the apple orchard, which the family does not maintain, but still had plenty of apples, enough Jess told her mother-in-law Ann later to make some pies from, I think, she said. We also found some wild grapes, small and a little bitter after a few tastes, but good nonetheless.
Near the top of the hill also was a cabin that hunters use and from there, we could see over the valley and the farm below. Even though it had clouded up a little since we first began, again, it still was an incredible view, with the multi-colored hills all around us.
When we got back down to the restaurant where we had started out — oh, yeah, I forgot to say that was where we met — at a restaurant the Seeley family also operates — we had lunch there. I might have overdid it a little (actually later I learned I did, but it was worth it). I had a burger, a cup of beef vegetable soup, macaroni salad (on Jess’s recommendation), a glass of chocolate milk (that was to die for), and then a slice of apple pie and a chocolate peanut butter milkshake with ice cream that they make right there. To say it was all delicious would be an understatement, and all for just a little over $10. When I left, I also picked up a chocolate milk to go and some pepper jack cheese that they make there too.
On the trip back from Troy to Wellsboro, Denny, Victoria and I thought the views were even brighter and more colorful than when we first started out. I said it might have been the chemicals in the milk that affected our vision. Denny rightly corrected me that it might have been the lack of chemicals in the milk. Whether or not, it was the milk specifically, I do believe that being out on a hike on a beautiful farm like Milky Ways Farm definitely did affect my vision. The world is a brighter, more colorful place after my visit there.
For more on Milky Way Farms in Troy, Pa., visit these links: http://nscocoa.com/milkyway/ and http://www.ntsmcoop.com/milky-way_farms%20.html.
