Who's this little poppet?
It's dearest little Dakota who has been part of life at the farm for three or so years ... and who is now leaving us a much bigger and yet still very dear girl ...
What do we love about her? So very much!
Those big dark eyes which peer out at the world ... and the genle soul that anyone who looks into them can see. Dakota, you love your family very much, are genteel and fine with an eye for beauty and it's all bound up with a honey like sweetness in you ...
We've seen the beauty of you dancing and your dignity in friendships where there is love, respect and care ... it suits you to be in such company.
Your steps were often cautious ... and in your own time and way, you'd find a way over a log or up a tree.
The small things and the gentle things would capture your heart, the flowers, the butterlies, the beetles, the lambs ... for you the world's beauty and gentleness and you somehow belonged together.
There was a day in the sand where the play got very still and out of that place of stillness your little fingers began to trace patterns in the sand. Elaborate, gentle, curved ... like an ancient dessert woman sand painting your story.
... and the day we stood down by the river, looking across the water and back at the farm, feathers and leaves in your hand ... and as you looked at them in contemplation, you quietly told me, 'Danella, I want to make the whole farm beautiful.'
To which I replied, 'It's a big place Dakota, the whole farm?'
... and you answered yes and there in front of you in the old timber fence, you gently place leaves and feathers as far as your eyes could see ... standing back at times to survey just how beautiful all you could see was ... finally announcing, 'There, it's finished.'
... and of course the day where you were quite the surprise package ...
Always immaculately dressed, throwing yourself into the grunge was not your way ... yet one day as we all played under the Peppercorn tree, you started to run dirt through your fingers, then your hands and as you delighted in the experience, you tumbled it onto your shirt then all through your hair until ... ecstatic with delight, you through yourself belly first into the dirt and lay in it, and swam in it and squirmed through it totally. Allowing yourself to be totally immersed in getting to know the dirt.
Thank you for gracing us all with your presence for so long ... I feel blessed with the privilege of knowing you Dakota. May your journey in life continue to unfold in the best of ways for you. I know Tessa and Jamin will keep providing you with rich opportunities for this ...
Goodbye dear Dakota ...
