Farm Life Report I could hear and feel the silence at the barn this morning. I have counted an average of 7 cars a day that pass by the farm on the state road a half mile to the west. But none today. Only stillness and silence. Sunday morning silence. I love it. All my farm animals have survived the winter storm. The feral cats came out from under the barn to visit with their friends the horses. They are afraid of me but they rub up against the horses’ legs and sit by them in in the hay where they are eating. I have to carry buckets of water to the barn. The horses allow the cats their turn at the water bucket. They are more capable than I am of making it to the pond. The problem is the old mule Otis. He is small and elderly and weak. His legs are too short to traverse the four foot drifts. I want to carry water only to him and thereby force the horses to have to go to the stream but instead, the more dominate horses push Otis out of the way and drink his water. So I have to let them have their fill and then make sure Otis gets his. I have no control over the pecking order of horses. I carry bats of hay all around the barn. Then I have to struggle through the drifts to get to the chicken house. I have kept them cooped up since the storm because it is so hard for me to get up there through the drifts to shut the door at night. To shut out predators. But this morning the white hen escaped. And I don’t blame her. The Guineas have been tormenting her relentlessly. They chase her and peck her and bite her. I’ve been worried about her but I have no control over the pecking order of chickens. I had to let them all out in order for the white hen to be able to get back in to safety at dusk. They will all congregate on my front porch now and you know what chickens do on porches . But at least the poor white hen can get away from the guineas during the day. Occasionally I have a second thought about why I have all these farm animals. I no longer have to have them to survive the way we did on my grandmother’s farm. It takes a lot of time and work. But I would never go to a gym or do aerobics. Farm work helps keep me strong. And I can’t wig out. I HAVE to do it no matter how bad I feel or how cold it is or how hard it is snowing . And, more importantly, I must keep the old ways alive and teach them to my granddaughter as best I can. I believe the day will come that she will need them.
Posted on: Sun, 16 Feb 2014 16:40:24 +0000
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