Sittin’ on the Dock of the Bay

Jul
27

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This is me sitting on the porch (yeah, the title of this post is…..nonsensical) with bad internet, watching a page take 15 minutes to load.

To the left of my laptop are some of the sunflowers that were knocked down along with the corn. I took it as an excuse to cut them and I brought some of them inside. I love sunflowers in a vase over the kitchen sink. That is summer, perfected. Even if it is the result of a terrible storm. (Otherwise, I was behaving and leaving the seedheads to mature for the birds.)

If you live in the country, or have ever lived in the country, you know that rural high-speed internet is often an empty dream. DSL is, finally, creeping ever closer, and I remain ever hopeful, but it is not to our farm yet. And on days during and sometimes following heavy storms, satellite is slow if accessible at all.

I have been operating Chickens in the Road, a photo-intensive site, on intermittent high-speed and often on dial-up for the past year and a half. You can pat me on the head now.

In other words, I’m saying uploading one photo for this post (and slightly whining) was the best I could do with my internet connection this weekend, so please forgive me this short post. I did can 12 quarts and 2 pints of green beans, and 9 1/2 pints of salsa this weekend, though! (Taking my accomplishments where I can.)

P.S. The storm this weekend also tossed a tree down across the road in front of our farm, tearing out a section of fence. Luckily, Jack and the sheep were too busy eating the top off the tree to make a break for it before the fence was repaired.

P.P.S. I’ll let you know if the corn recovers!

(Do you live in the country? Is satellite your only option? Does the universe tease you with this-close DSL, too? Feel free to commiserate with me.)





The Neverending Story

Jul
22

When I opened the chicken house door to check on my little banty last Friday, she was off her nest. I immediately went back to look closer at the chicken yard I had zipped by in my rush to see my little banty first. A crowd of chickens flocked the yard. No little banty. I went back to the chicken house. I must have missed her. But, no, she wasn’t there. Back to the chicken yard. Back to the chicken house. Back and forth, disbelief and slow reality sinking in as I found the evidence.

She was just a chicken.

But she wasn’t just a chicken because I had made her real. Not just to me, but to you, too.

I used to watch Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood. I adored him. He was so hokey and so sincere at the same time. Everyone was special in their own way. I think that extends to animals.

I tell their stories. I wanted the little banty’s story to end differently. And if I was Beatrix Potter, I could have made that happen. When I wrote romance novels, I could control the outcome. This blog is the storybook of a farm. It’s a “neverending story” set in a real world where life’s sometimes random harshness can wipe out a moment of innocent charm. It’s a world where you can love a chicken and care if it dies.

And I think there’s a little teeny bit of what makes life worth living in that. I feel a responsibility when I have made you invest real emotion in an animal by the stories I’ve told. I hope that the good moments will always outshine the bad. I hope that I can make it worth your while to take the risk that comes with caring.

I was amazed by the outpouring of real emotion in comments and emails about the little banty. Whatever animals qualify as “the least of God’s creatures” –the little banty would surely be in their company. She was small, even for a chicken. There are millions of little chickens all over the world just like her–and all of them special in their own way. I like to think she was representin’.
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And our story goes on…..

Thank you for your support and just for being here.



July 17, 2009 - Milking Party

So the other day I went over the hill and through the woods to Missy’s house and taught her how to milk. I know. The entire concept is either laughable or frightening, but that’s what us nouveau farmers do. We teach each other how to do stuff even if we don’t totally know what we’re...
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July 15, 2009 - Spice the Wonder Cat

She might look adorable. She might even look downright innocent. But this is a wily coyote and the smartest cat I’ve ever had. She will work at anything she wants to do until she accomplishes it. And once she accomplishes it, she does it over and over and over….. Recently, I’ve been coming back to...
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July 10, 2009 - Does It Mean Anything that Poverty, Perseverance, and Passion All Start with a P?

I spent the past two weeks working on this really long list of to-do’s on my website. Things that needed updating, revamping, recreating, and reimagining. Don’t you just love the word reimagine? It oozes the power of doing something fantastical twice. Life should be reimagined regularly. So anyway, I got all done with this long...
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