Rain, farm sounds, travel plans, positive outcomes

Over the late evening yesterday and through the night we had rain. A total of 1 ½ inches fell on our little farm. It was a welcome accumulation of moisture. The soft rain between the sporadic showers will not add to the levels in our stock tanks or creeks because the dry ground absorbed every drop as it connected with the landscape. Since the weather has turned cooler, I have not needed to water as often as I had during the heat of the Summer, but I still try to water once per week to ensure the roots of my berry plants and fruit trees stay hydrated through the colder months. Rain gives me a respite form that evening core. Amid the shorter day and cooler weather, the trees are starting to go to sleep. Leaves are falling in bunches as the sap within the tree recedes into the base and roots. One good frost and a strong wind following, and the trees will be bared as they rest through the Winter.

Between the rain and the cool morning, the sounds around the farm are more subdued. The chickens, who do not mind being out in the soft rain, will run for cover in the downpours. The goats, who do not like to get their feet wet, stay inside the barn long after the rain has ceased. That presents a challenge to me because the more time they spend in the shelter, the more they pee and poop within that shelter. Any enclosure can quickly take on the aroma of those deposits and require more frequent cleaning over the wetter and colder months. I collect and compost all the refuse for use in the garden and around my fruit trees, so nothing goes to waste. It just makes more work for me. Who would have thought that cleaning up urine saturated hay and goat droppings would be a labor of love?

The huge calves that our neighbor has in our barn lot are faring well. They are gradually eating down the grass that Mama and I left to grow for their benefit. When they are moved out of that area, we will mow the entire four acres so it does not look untended, and I will continue my ongoing project of thinning out the saplings from the mott of trees at the stock tank in the barn lot to give it a more presentable appearance. Years ago, Grandpa mowed and cleaned the acreage and it looked like a park. I would like to get that look back, but I have limited time to commit to that project so it has waited until the Fall and Winter to move up the list.

Mama will be very busy tomorrow as I teach a class. She must first meet a lady in Arlington to deliver the sixty ornaments she made to be included in gift boxes sent out by a mutual friend. One of those subscription deals offered by the lady who ordered the ornaments to be made for inclusion in her November boxes. Once back home, Mama will be meeting with the repairman who now has the part required to put our freezer back in service. Then she will be meeting with a real estate appraiser whose assessment of the property was ordered for some finance paperwork Mama and I require. We are looking forward to all three of these events. Being paid for Mama’s work on the ornaments, getting the freezer back in service and getting a sense of the current value of our farm.

All that presses up against a deadline for activities this week because Mama and I are traveling this weekend. Mama has signed up for a Color Street event in Austin, TX which will happen Friday evening. One of the reasons we are making the quick trip south is to meet the founder of Color Street, Fa Park. This will not be a long trip since we only signed up to attend the event Friday night. We will be heading home Saturday morning. That trip home may be interrupted by several stops enroute, but we are planning to be home Saturday night. Daylight Saving’s Time ends that night so we will gain an hour overnight. Perfect timing for the extra sleep we may need.

More generally, I have to admit that I was happy to see the outcomes of several of the off-year elections, particularly in Virginia and New Jersey. The undeniable statement made was that ordinary folks have had enough of being told we are second-class citizens to an entitled, out of touch elite who see most of us as an obstacle to how they would choose to indoctrinate our children, run the affairs of our country, and spend the hard-earned money we give them in the taxes we are required to pay. Maybe, the recent outcomes will send a clear message to the upper echelons of our elitists dictators that we are not happy with the current course of their conduct and remind then that power in this republic is granted by “we the people.”

Time will tell, but I am moderately hopeful.