While the Sun Shines

Haying twice this week. It's not a bad task, not a bad task at all. I know I am getting over this arm thing but I did the same task as last time, moving bales off the wagon without lifting over my head. Along with the help of three other friends and neighbors we got another 200 or so bales into Patty's barn. Feels good to be useful, and to help where I can to a family that has always been there for me.

Wanted to pop in with a quick update. There isn't much to report other than the hay, the halt in the super-hot weather, and a lot of cucumber beetles. So far we are winning that war, slowly defeating them in honorable organic combat. Bowls painted bright yellow (like squash leaves) are set out in the rows to collect them. They are drawn to the blossom like color, and when they go into the bowls they are drowned in a soapy water. This isn't enough, though. Every evening after dinner I collect them by hand off the small starts, which in the next few weeks should grow into respectable flowering plants.

The farm looks, feels, and shines with beauty. Even the multi-floral rose everyone can't stand - it looks beautiful filling in woodland spaces and undergrowth with white flowers. I am noticing more of that, the world just outside the barriers of the farmyards. I notice the frogs, the birds (saw my first Indigo Bunting today!), the wilder places...

Things are good even when they get hard. There isn't much more I can ask for. And when I need a respite, I have my wild edges and the miles I run - and both are becoming more and more fond to me.