I grew up on a dairy farm in central North Carolina, but I moved away 32 years ago. I’ve come back home to visit every year, though. Every time I visit I’m always struck by two things: how much things have changed and how much things are the same. It’s an interesting contradiction.

The dairy is now a beef and hay farm. My dad, at age 83, is still doing the farming. My mom is now retired from working, but still does all the farm bookkeeping. The main farmland is still intact, but there are lots more houses being built adjacent to it. The old dirt road I used to stump my toe on in front of their house is now paved and busy with high-speed traffic.

It feels busier and noisier around the farm, while the farm itself is quieter and slower-paced than when I was a kid. There are still neighbors who care and offer a helping hand, but there are strangers among us, too.

It’s all testament to the saying “the only constant is change”. And as the spring flowers explode in color along the roadsides and pastures, and the calves grow into cows, I’m reminded that nothing remains the same, nor should it. Nature finds balance in the changing seasons and each moment is a gift to accept and enjoy.