A Running Collection

We’ve been farming for a decade. It is hard to believe. We bought Amelia her first chicks when she was two and we have never turned back. We attempted to raise sheep and decided against that. We even thought we would raise rabbits, but that project wasn’t one that went well. We h ave thoroughly enjoyed raising chickens and pigs; and this year, we added three cows to the menagerie.  Because the animals are living creatures, we walk closely and often to the experiences associated with animals living and dying. We’ve lost an  entire flock of baby chicks in one fell swoop to an extremely greedy, hungry raccoon. We’ve lost eggs to snakes, we lost a sick sheep, and we say good bye regularly to our healthy pigs when they are sold and sent to the butcher. No matter what, we love them deeply.  We are beside ourselves with excitement when new babies arrive and beside ourselves sad when we lose them. Even the pigs that we sell we love and know. One of the kids favorite thin...

The “Just One Thing” Challenge My resolution list was getting a bit long. Obviously there are several areas in my life that need a little tweaking, adding, subtracting, or multiplying. I like the focus that New Year’s resolutions offer and I’m pretty good at keeping up with my resolves, but I will say that this year, my list is endless. All of the things!  I want to do something to focus on taking better care of the world, better care of the people around me, better care of my spirit, my soul, and my body, better care of my family, and better care of my relationships. I can say "better care" but that isn't specific and can easily slide through the cracks - nice words that don't have a clear action. In general, nothing we do just happens in an instant. We have to build to achieve. We study, we practice, we train, we save. Each bit adds up. Starting can be hard, but not if we just put one foot in front of the other and at least try. Try to train for a race, try...