During my semi-quarantine of Covid, I decided to do some research into places to visit in and around Ocala once the pandemic ended.  One in particular that appealed to me was The Yearling, a restaurant in Hawthorne which is about 25 miles from Ocala.  Upon further investigation I discovered this eating establishment was in fact tied to the novel written by Margery Kinnan Rawlings of the same name and that she had lived and written the book in the area near where the restaurant is located.  This was a book I fondly remembered from my youth as one of my elementary teachers had read it to my class and I had later chosen to read the book myself.  In 1949 it was made into a movie of the same name starring Gregory Peck and Jane Wyman which some of you may have seen.

The story centers around the Baxter family who are subsistence farmers in rural Florida (not too far from Ocala) in the 1870’s. Penny Baxter who is a Confederate Civil War veteran and his wife Orry are the parents of Jody Baxter.  He is a young lad who lives a rather lonely life and longs for a pet of his own.  He ends up rescuing a fawn that he raises with the permission of his father Penny and reluctantly, his mother, Orry.  She is a cold, distant woman who emotionally struggles with the loss of five of her six children, Jody being the only to survive.  Penny is a remarkably kind and generous person in spite of his mostly painful life.

I was often reminded of the Book of Job while reading this book.  The only difference however was Penny Baxter never lived a prosperous life like Job did in the beginning. He lived through a difficult childhood, survived the Civil War, grieved the loss of five of his six children, lived through many health concerns, suffered numerous crop failures, experienced damaging torrential storms and endured animal attacks. One can certainly see the parallels with Job’s life however. Through all of his trials, like Job, Penny remained faithful, caring and tenderhearted.  He saw the best in everyone and everything and remained faithful to God in all his adversity.  I know he was only a character in a realistic fiction story, but I admired him for all his resolve.  Perhaps Rawlings patterned him after the biblical Job.

I just finished reading The Yearling again last week in preparation for visiting the restaurant this summer and taking the tour of the surrounding area, home to this American classic. It has been about 55 years since I originally read this book and as an adult reader of this novel, I saw it from a different perspective than I did as a child.  My focus then was of course on the young boy, the pet deer and his eventual loss of him.  I could only see it through a child’s eyes since I had no other life experience.  Yes, I once again shed crocodile tears when Jody’s beloved deer died, but as an adult I read it from Penny’s view point as a parent.  I felt his unconditional love for his son and admired him because of his caring ways, positive outlook and the nonjudgmental way he lived his otherwise difficult and sad life.  In spite of all he endured he remained an exemplary Christian man, helped all in need, respected and conserved the land and the animals and treated everyone with dignity and respect.  He lived as the Lord wants all of us to live, trusting humbly in Him and remembering that even during pain, suffering or agony He will sustain His people through it all for His purposes and glory. (Job 42:5-6).  Once again, through reading this novel and the words in Job, I am reminded and thankful God loves us unconditionally!  Thanks be to God!

Patty