So as I look through the last posts, I see that it truly has been a while since the last post by me, TS. I have noticed that I tend to store up the creative thoughts in my head like a hoarder when I really need to put them to keyboard. Oh well, things have been super busy and by the end of the day I just want some peace and quiet in my head. On that note… I have the utmost respect for all the stay-at-home parents in this world!! This is not a job for the faint at heart by ANY means. Some days it feels like we are running a circus instead of a farm.

Update on the family. The kids are doing well and by that I mean we are all still alive. Haven likes kindergarten well enough but hates that he is forced to take naps every day (this is handed down as a direct order from the state board of education.) He stopped napping when he was two! Thank goodness this is not pushed past Christmas break and hopefully the rest of the school year will be more appealing to him. He has made many friends at school and has also formed a strong bond with a girl in his class who is now his best friend. Kids are so cute! Skylar is doing well but would be much happier I think with more interaction with kids. She just turned four so kindergarten is a ways off but maybe pre-school next Fall. Sometimes when I see her with our friends’ kids her age, I see my mother in her. She is very fond of toy animals, taking pictures with our old camera, and roaring. Every day we are blessed with a new pet as she explores her connection to the animals of the world. Quite often she is a kitty that wants to protect her pretend kittens, or a velociraptor, but every blue moon she will grace us with a unicorn or some magical creature form storyland. They both are just like any other kids. Lots of energy and very headstrong. When together though they often are like oil and water. Wait, more like nitric acid and glycerol. It sometimes reminds me of a classic duel of the 1600s the way they fight. A parry here, a thrust there… then I have to take away the kitchen knives. Just kidding. One day they will each understand that the other was not placed here as the sole torment of them. One day they will be a team. And I hope to not be on the wrong side of that team.

Lori and I are well too. Stressed and layered thin, but well. We have been just about nonstop action since before we arrived here on the farm. That’s almost 6 seasons in farm-speak. There is a reason that Winter arrives when it does too. The previous 3 seasons can kill you. Take this time nature says… Reboot and reassess your goals. We just said to hell with it last Winter and pushed on through! This Winter, I hope to listen to and abide by Mother Nature. I need, we all need some time.

Animals update. We have over 150 animals at this exact moment. Nothing new, but just an expanded version of the farm. We are raising meat chickens for a Winter CSA, and to be prepared going into Spring market. Our flock of layers has grown to try and increase egg sales through the cold days. Our guineas are thriving and we have successfully raised several groups of keats. Our rabbits have had some ups and downs this year, but they are safe with the barn cats so can’t complain there. We sell about 5-6 rabbits on market Saturdays and look to grown that in the Spring, as well as chicken and egg sales. Cloud the behemoth is doing well and seems to be healthy this year with her skin. Last year she had massive itchy hotspots and we thought it was either chicken allergy or dry heat. Looks like chicken was the culprit. Kitten is still with us but spends all of her time in our bedroom. Not a farm cat by any stretch of the imagination but always very loving at bedtime.

We have had a lot of deer in the fields this year. 2 less than before the Fall started though as I have had success with my Strother compound bow. They have been feeding very well on our strawberry plants, local tomatoes, and cabbage so they are very healthy targets that help feed our family. We also had a stray horse show up one night looking to graze our yard, but thankfully Lori was not able to catch it or lead it into our barn… even though she tried for 30 minutes. No bear sightings on the property. No weasel signs since we lost the ducks. I did trap a possum but released over the other side of the mountain. Rats are a constant problem, but we are working to contain the ongoing issue.

So to be honest, I have this story building for a book I want to write. It is probably the reason I have not wanted to blog. My mind hasn’t been able to concentrate well while trying to put my thoughts down. I drift away sometimes building the back story and reasoning of the future world we may find ourselves living within, and the status of recent worldly events has also been weighing heavy on my heart and mind as I try to understand the implications of our future as a species. The confluence of those two rivers of thought have really helped me focus on refining my actual opinions of life, time, and impact. I think I always avoided forming real opinions before. Whether from fear of judgment or maybe just lack of introspection. I watched in real time as things happened around me, but never processed the reality. I watched the towers fall but failed to fully understand what that event meant for our future. I watched as greed took over conscious thought before the housing market collapsed, but never fully embraced what the long-term consequences were to the everyday people of this country. I watched myself lose the “self” aspect every day. I watched the world at every step. I watched from afar.

I act now. I try to act every day now to understand or make a difference where I can. Every action has a reaction as Newton stated, and that applies to belief as well. Where there is no action, there is no belief. Where there is no belief, there is no hope. No hope, no love. Time here at the farm has made me a believer in love. Not that silly idea of love that teenagers think of as lasting unscathed and influenced by the stars. No not that. I refer to the love that breaks down barriers between people of all perspectives. Love that humbles and love that shows the fragility of life. It’s all around us if we choose to accept it, but we must also accept the need for action on its behalf. I act in the name of love and for that, I have hope and belief to boot.

I hope to anyone reading this that you find some way to take action in the upcoming year in the name of love. Act on behalf of someone who can’t. Act out of sincerity. Act now, while you can make a difference however small. A happy 2017 to everyone. May peace prevail.

T.S.