One of my good friends from university lives several hours away from me. As life pulls us different directions, hours spent chatting or together are few and far between. This seems to be the phase of life I’m in now as many of my friends are starting families of their own. One phone call every few months doesn’t do many of these friendships justice as we try to stay close. I often feel guilty for not trying to call or text more, as I am busy myself but want to stay in touch.

As I was getting my daily dose of social media in a few weeks ago, I watched a video of a gal whose sister lives across the country. To stay connected, the two share photos from the week via text message each Sunday evening. I immediately sent this to my friend and asked if we could try it. I find myself looking forward to receiving the batch of photos from her week and am grateful that technology allows us to share pieces of our lives with one another. We met for brunch recently and were able to pick up where we had left off months before, as the weekly photo dumps had kept us up-to-date on each others’ lives.

This activity has also provided me with an incentive to take more photos. I've been stuck in a rut lately where I feel my life is fairly dull, but taking photos of my daily tasks has helped me realize I have anything but a dull life. I pull my phone out more often and have found myself romanticizing my weeks, even if they are slower. It’s been refreshing to see my life through a new lens as I scroll through photos and recount my activities. I also appreciate the opportunity to reminisce on older photos of different phases of life more now as I continue to grow into new ventures. They say “A picture’s worth a thousand words,” and as a writer I could argue that, but I’ve learned that sometimes a camera can tell a story just as well.

One of my favourite types of photo dumps to scroll through are photos on the farm. My friend lives on a large ranch and cropping operation, and it’s so fun to get a peek into her life and business. Now that my family has sold our cows, photos and videos of days spent working at the dairy are some of my most cherished possessions.

I wanted to extend this invite to you, dear reader, as you take photos on your family farm. If you’re willing and able to share with our publication, I’d love to feature your photos in our magazine. Send me photos of your cows, office work, fieldwork and everything in between. Let’s share our photo dumps with one another and stay connected through Progressive Dairy. (Email me.)