Happenings on the Farm
Things happen around the farm. Every day I encounter oddities of human and animal behavior that I often capture with the snap of an iPhone or, if I'm lucky, the click of a real camera. Our passion for all that the farm offers, perhaps gives us a unique perspective. Moments that might otherwise be overlooked by the average passerby, we find infused with the character of our animals and land and home. I can tell the weather by the gong of the wind chime hanging from the old maple on the east side of our 100-year old farm house. I know that the pop-pop-pop of the metal roof on the west side means that I should add a pair of long-johns before heading out to feed.
Our recently added horse barn is laid out on the property so that we can see eager and friendly equine faces peeking out from the windows, simply by looking out any of ours.
We have a ghost chicken. After months of laying and nesting with her fellow hens, she left the flock. Where she lives, we know not. She appears several times a week, flapping her wings and squawking -- staying only long enough to eat and drink -- and like an apparition, in moment, she is gone...
Oh, and the mighty mountain lion. Fearless and bold, she stalks the pastures seeking to feed on any rodent foolish enough to find itself to be caught in her gaze.
The list goes on. Twin fawns and their mother who help themselves to our apple trees just a few feet from our kitchen door, chickens who march curiously into the house should the door be left ajar, and horses who would do the same given the opportunity. Add an all-boy, 5-year-old farm boy to this mix and on any given day it does, indeed, begin to look like the funny farm.
Our recently added horse barn is laid out on the property so that we can see eager and friendly equine faces peeking out from the windows, simply by looking out any of ours.
We have a ghost chicken. After months of laying and nesting with her fellow hens, she left the flock. Where she lives, we know not. She appears several times a week, flapping her wings and squawking -- staying only long enough to eat and drink -- and like an apparition, in moment, she is gone...
Oh, and the mighty mountain lion. Fearless and bold, she stalks the pastures seeking to feed on any rodent foolish enough to find itself to be caught in her gaze.
The list goes on. Twin fawns and their mother who help themselves to our apple trees just a few feet from our kitchen door, chickens who march curiously into the house should the door be left ajar, and horses who would do the same given the opportunity. Add an all-boy, 5-year-old farm boy to this mix and on any given day it does, indeed, begin to look like the funny farm.
