Sheep in the Mist

It's a cool, misty morning on the farm.  I'm sewing in my favorite black watch plaid flannel granny gown with the white eyelet trim and matching navy blue crocs (for running out and checking on the critters).  The view out my window is the ultimate in bucolic setting - sheep gently grazing on the lush green hillside.  I hear myself going aaahhhhhh and I'm reminded why I'm working so hard.  The recent rains have turned my hillside into good grazing, unlike the hard, barren caked ground of a month ago.  Happy sheep - happy Maggie.  Notice the downhill slope of the land - although I have a lot of water on this land, I will never be flooded.  Hurricane Isaac is wreaking havoc on the gulf states, but not here, in the beautiful hills of upstate New York.  It was this time last year that Irene came this far north and we lost power for three days.  The steady rains caused the first leak in my barn that I've had in the five years I've been here.  I had pots in a line up and down the ridgepole, making music as the drops fell.  My freezer had a decent amount of pork products in it, but my generator was broken.  On the morning of day three I decided to haul all that meat into school to feed my students rather than have it go bad.  It took three trips from the parking lot to get it safely put away, and when I came home the power was back on.  That's okay - those kids loved the bacon and ribs.