Crazy times, the farm

We sure live in a crazy mixed-up world. There have always been times where men called wrong right and sought to strip all power from truth, and we have survived those times. That survival was based every time on a truth-centered approach to our interpersonal communications. Now those in power have the means to tell their fiction as truth without any interference from a voice of truth and reason. The sad fact of our current culture is that a huge number of our own population actually believe the lies they are being told even though the truth is available to counter those lies. Whether it is the ongoing horror in Afghanistan, the flood of persons into our country illegally at the southern border (who are not required to be vaccinated), or the constant shaming about getting the vaccine which is proven to be questionable, rarely is the opposing view told. And many just nod their heads and click their tongues and go along with the lies.

There is coming an awakening of the majority. All it will take is one step over the threshold of what can be tolerated from those holding authority at the moment. Either that or we will see what the Bible talks about when it mentions the mark of the Beast. A measure, a mark, an identifier that will allow those marked to participate in the economy and those without to be kept from buying, selling, getting health care, etc. It is frightening to be so close to that moment. Can we recover? Yes. The choice is ours to make but I am not sure how to make an individual difference right now. That opportunity will come, but for now, I will continue walking in truth and let the Lord lead.

In times like these it is nice to have the farm; a constant reminder of the wonder of the world the Lord has allowed us to occupy. As Mama headed out to make her run to Costco yesterday morning, she noticed Dolly in the far of their enclosure farthest from the barn – and oddly close to the road. That is the spot where she has delivered her kids every time she has given birth. We knew to watch her but both of us were busy. As I returned from teaching the class I presented yesterday afternoon, I noticed a little one with her. When I got inside the house and told Mama, she had to run out to see and sure enough, she had delivered a little girl. The little one is beautifully marked. We were both surprised that she had only the one. She normally has twins. She did have twins. A little stillborn boy was tucked into the branches I have piled in that corner. I had to go back a little bit later and bury him. So, Dolly has only the one to raise this year.

Also yesterday at the evening feeding, Aspen did not get up to fight for her spot at the feeders. A telltale sign she was close to kidding as well. Sure enough, this morning Mama discovered that early this morning she had had triplets. That is normal for her. The sad part is that they are all three boys. That is only sad from the prospect of selling them. For this year’s crop of kids, we have three girls and five boys newly arrived on the farm. We also lost two boys as stillborn. In a few months, the girls will be separated for weaning and the boys will be separated permanently. Hopefully, we can find homes for them quickly.

Mama and Victoria are working on getting flights to Florida so they can spend some time with Grandma to try and encourage her to fight through to recovery. At the moment, it is a plan in the works, and nothing has been settled, but oddly enough, they are looking at the same days Mama and I had thought to take a few days away from the farm for a mini vacation. After the expense of having Mama in Florida for the week she spent helping Grandpa, we did not have the funds to make such a trip, so I cancelled that vacation from work. If Mama and Victoria do go to see Grandma, I hope they will take an evening and go to the beach for a few hours. Mama did not get to do so on her last trip. All that said, we are still waiting to see how Grandma does over the next week.

This weekend will be filled our typical weekend chores – cleaning coops, tending to the bees, and general farm duties. I will continue to dig up the grass burr (sticky burr) infestation in the garden that I started yesterday evening. I started with a box to accumulate the offending plants and had to quickly graduate to the wheelbarrow for the mass if plants and dirt I was removing from the garden. It has amounted to a lot more than I anticipated. If I am successful at getting the burrs removed, it will be a great improvement to our garden area.

Mostly, it feels like an exercise in futility but I know there will be at least a modest positive outcome albeit a temporary one.