Ed Vol Training

I put up a few pictures of education training. Figured you might appreciate photos with actual people in them.

It is the kind of cold that I can't describe right now. -20 degrees with wind chill cold. Like getting slapped in the face every time you open the door.

Education training is over. Two weeks of sitting inside and learning a lot of what I already knew. But, the last two days, not bad. Enjoyed them for whatever reasons. Let's get some groups back on the farm, please.

Had our annual volunteer dinner last night, where all the employees cook dinner for the local volunteers and residential volunteers. I came ready to cast myself into food oblivion, and I lived up to my expectations with great talent. I'm still full. Ouch. Liz Ellis, our chef, makes this swiss chard, pumpkin gratin that is unbelievable. Got to talk to some local vols and feel a part of the Overlook community, which was great.

Two days off. How best to waste my time?

Baby Season

Yesterday, it finally happened. The mark of an exciting new phase in farm life. That's right. Our first small ruminant had vaginal discharge! Whoopie! I could barely contain myself when Donna pointed it out to me yesterday morning. I thought that discharge would never come.

Of course, that gooey stuff indicates that birthing is on the way. To be particular, it was one of our Nigerian dwarf goats, and boy oh boy, she looks pregnant. Definitely as wide as she is tall, which is the case for most of our goats. I should provide pictures of just how preggers some of these ladies are. Mental note.

Well, if you see the first signs of discharge, birthing is less than a week off. So, every night we're having nighttime checks so we don't miss any ewes or does going into labor. Hopefully this time next week I'll be telling you about our new Nigerian dwarf kids. I hear they're some of the cutest. Of course, the birthing season is going to take a while, extending well into March. The larger sheep and goats tend to have longer gestations. Also, there's a chance I will have to assist an animal in birth. I mean reaching in and pulling the sucker out. A chance, small though it may be. Anyway, I'm pretty excited, even though I'm not supposed to be because only women folk care about that kind of thing. I'm gonna go chop wood. F'in A.

Livestock

Quick thought: We of the developed countries have long forgotten how dead useful a livestock animal is. This struck me as I was reading One Hundred Years of Solitude, in the section about the three years of rain, in which one of the characters, Petra Cotes, is able to survive by keeping her mule alive. What? Keeping a mule alive? Big deal. What can a mule do? This gut reaction most likely comes from a lifetime of detachment from livestock animals, not to mention all things farm in general. However, in the developing world, and in the fading world of human history, livestock have served as an invaluable resource against calamity. A kind of savings account that can be sold or killed in times of dire need and serves as an indication of status and wealth. It's funny to me how differently we, "the developed", see livestock animals. I would argue that we associate them more often than not with poverty and ignorance. One hundred years ago? Probably not the case. A lot has changed. But, it does explain why Heifer is so keen on providing livestock to impoverished communities. Domesticated animals are a really good way to get people on their feet. Until, of course, you accrue enough wealth and security to concentrate all your livestock animals in distant corners of the map so that you can do better things with your time and keep on eating meat without thinking about them.

The View

The view, in sun and in snow.

More.

And just a few more pictures.

Athena, the baby pig.

My house, winter-style.

The overlook.

Rumple Stillskin, the disturbed buck goat.

Well

That didn't work. Ok. I'll just put the pictures on my blog. Here they are.

Troy, the alpaca.

Big Dave (hard to scale, but he's huge)

The Pole Barn in the morning

Mabel, the pissed off cow

Abu, the farm favorite.

Pictures

So, I am now capable of taking pictures. Here are the long awaited animal pictures. I hope this link works.

http://www.me.com/gallery/#100002

Peace Sounds

Back on the farm, after a pause for Christmas and family. Two weeks of suburban living, and you know what? I missed the animals.

I realized this only ten minutes ago, as I was walking away from evening chores. Chores: festivity of chaos. Especially today, feeding the sheep and goats grain, which they love more than crackheads love crack. Try and find a graceful way of feeding 75+ sheep and goats grain. I dare you. Like I said, festivity of chaos.

But, in the soft dusk light, walking home from checking on the cows, I stepped into the pole barn where my sheep/goat friends reside, and I was met suddenly with sounds of peace. In the dim glow, with the setting sun peering in from the south facing side, I heard the faint munching of happy animals. Nearly everything was quiet as the end of day approached, with the exception of the sound of hay being nibbled. In those sounds, I felt the breathe and release that comes with evening, the calm that settles like thick blankets. The goats and sheep were huddling together in the hay, bellies full, sleep overcoming. Safe, warm, quiet. Even in winter, even when things aren't really safe and the world is anything but quiet, one can't overestimate the value of a moment like this. Like being a kid going to bed after the fulfillment of Christmas day, spent and happily succumbing to sleep and forgetfulness... until the next day comes, and the damn cows get out again, and forty kids arrive in buses, and the sink is full of dirty dishes.