Time Keeps on Slipping Into the Future...

"Could I climb the highest place in Athens, I would lift up my voice and
proclaim, 'Fellow citizens, why do you burn and scrape every stone to gather
wealth, and take so little care of your children to whom you must one day
relinquish all?' "

--Socrates, c. 390 B.C.

Recently...

Men will be boys.

More turkeys.

Some of the family harvesting potatoes.

World's laziest cat.

Farmboys

The boys shooting off a bottle rocket on the 4th

Pure joy: watching and hearing our 12yo son and 4yo son doing chores together.

I especially like pig-feeding time. I suppose that's what I see the most, since the pigs are only a few feet away from our clothesline (which is another of my joys; I LOVE hanging out our clothes, and the way it forces me not only to go outside, but also to slow down--and NOT be at the mercy of the dryer's buzzer!). The boys derive much pleasure from the pigs.

The elder son has such a way with all the animals, and seems to really enjoy them. This is especially heart-warming, since we had never had turkeys, cattle, or pigs until the last couple of years. He has moved so easily and happily into critter-care.

The 4yo doesn't remember much before we had cows and chickens. Adding pigs this year didn't seem like a big deal to him. Nor does a new batch of chicks. It's simply life as he's always known it to be. He is a true and great help with chicken processing and beef butchering, which he considers a normal part of life. And we've discussed hog-killing enough that it's just something that needs to be done--even looked forward to. When one of his sisters asked him what would happen to one of our dogs if the dog died, his very politically and socially incorrect answer was, "Eat it." I guess he thinks that's what one does with farm animals that bite the dust! (BTW, we have straightened him out on that one.)

Mary Susan