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The first hatch of the year is over, and, sadly, there’s just one chick. A combination of factors (early season eggs, a fiddly incubator, and a small number of eggs set) culminated in just one healthy, vigorous hatchling. But one is always better than none.
Continue reading “Haiku: When You Need A Friend”
Winter has some of the most striking sunsets of the year. I’d chalked it up to the crisp clearness of the season’s days, and science seems to back that up. The depth of the smoldering hues on the horizon seems, at least to me, to be a sort of swan song: the sun, not going gently into night, leaves its breathtaking impression on the observer.
Experiencing beautiful sunsets one of the rewards of being a farmer. Nighttime chores mean receiving this gift of Nature’s beauty without needing to make special arrangements to see it – fortuitously, I’m already outside! Sometimes the display is accompanied by the soft hooting of owls, a reminder that predators arrive with the darkness and to make haste in getting the poultry secured for the night. And, each night, our birds are settled in safely, just as the sun reluctantly dips below the dusky sky.
Interesting fact: according to Stephen Corfidi of NOAA, “were it not for the fact that human eyes are more sensitive to blue light than to violet, the clear daytime sky would appear violet instead of blue”. Learn more about the science behind spectacular winter sunsets here.
Periodically, the geese fly out of their enclosure and have a jaunt through the pastures. The tracks in the snow tell a tale of the gaggle having a rather circuitous hike through snowy fields – and, thankfully, returning as though they’d never left at all.
Continue reading “Haiku: Wandering Waterfowl (Snow Series #9)”
The snow creates so many opportunities for, frankly, woolgathering and whimsy. When I spied a tiny cave created by a curled leaf, I imagined that wandering creatures like fairies might take advantage of the diminutive shelter to get out of the freezing wind and warm up a bit before continuing on. Safe journeys, my friends.
Ah, the cursed ice! Despite how carefully I’ve tried to tread, my luck finally ran out and I did some kind of unwanted (and undeniably ungraceful) move trying to prevent myself from landing hard on the icy ground.
While I may ultimately have failed to stop the tumble, at least it really only involved a slow-motion (at least in my head) flailing of arms and awkward footwork, resulting in a semi-rough landing on a knee and rear. That ice felt less forgiving than concrete! I think the fact that I was pulling the loaded cart actually helped prevent a more painful fall, and I seem to have escaped physical injury.🍀 Seriously though, the ice is bad news…you don’t know where it’s slick – assume everywhere – or when you’re going to lose footing. And, thanks to heavy sleet and periodic melt that refreezes at night, the ground is one, thick, solid sheet of ice. A veritable skating rink. There’s no escape.
To my fellow farmers (and anyone else) dealing with the ice, I wish you the best of luck in keeping your footing. An injury on the farm is a big deal, so I hope we all weather the storm as well as can be expected and come out of it as hearty and hale as we were before this weather blew in…and with our dignity intact.
Nature never fails to amaze, despite how much we take her for granted. In the midst of a spell of frigid weather that’s left surfaces coated in thick ice (making walking treacherous, at best), and among the myriad prints that have been left in the snow by our boots and various animal visitors, I happened upon this, this very morning. Does she know it’s Valentine’s Day? I choose to believe it’s not a coincidence, that she left something remarkable as a reminder that Nature needs – and deserves – our care and protection, too.