Updates and Inspiration

The last week or so has been busy on the farm and I have been trying to get the farm and home ready for winter. Cold weather and the snow of winter seems far off on warm, sunny days like today but I know we are just on borrowed time before the weather turns cold. The high cost of propane has had me winterizing our home by putting plastic on the windows and insulating around the doors and where the floor meets the wall. We are considering a wood stove to further cut costs, because if we have nothing else we do have an abundant supply of hedge wood just waiting to be cut on our farm.

We took the meat wethers to Wichita to sell them, and we received a fair price for them. Now is the time to sell any extra animals and pare the herd down before winter. We also butchered our first goat at home for meat for our own freezer. Actually, I wussed out and left that job for my husband, maybe someday I will be able to do that myself as I do take pride in being more self-reliant here on the farm; but this was a young doe I let myself get attached too. Unfortunately she had hurt her leg and it clearly was something that was not going to get better. Those type of things happen on a farm sometimes and it was good we were able to at least get use of the meat from her but I just could not do it myself. I will happily cook the meat for my husband though, once that initial chore is done.

I stayed up last Tuesday to watch the election results unfold. My husband and I had voted earlier that evening and while I was inspired by the determination of all the people I saw on t.v waiting in lines for hours for their right to vote and help shape the future of this country, I was also very relieved and felt fortunate that we virtually had no wait to vote at all. There are clearly advantages to living in a rural area and voting in a small town. No matter which candidate would have won, history was going to be made and that is something to feel good about. The fact that we as a country have come so far that two groups of people, women and African Americans, that at one time were not even allowed to vote in this country were involved in this historic election and one would no doubt be going to the white house as either President or Vice President was inspiring.

Now that the race is over, the fact that this country now has its first African American President is inspirational and a great moment in our history. It is truly something to be proud of no matter who we voted for or what our individual thoughts on their policies or political stances are. We have lots of time to worry and hear about those in the coming months but if we all could step away from the politics and divisiveness of this past election for a moment to at least think about that, we can all take pride in this great country and the wonderful fact that after this long and trying election, we now know that we can tell our children both sons and daughters; regardless of the color of their skin that yes, they can truly be anything they want to be if they are willing to work at it. Even President and really know we are speaking the truth when we say it.