Snow Day for Real!

Is there anything more exciting for a teacher than to find out that you don’t have to bomb out of the house and hit the road?  I anticipated this day off but I know not to get cocky.  My school has seven sending districts and they all have to close before we can.  All the pieces fell into place and here I am, home on the farm where I belong.  Doggies sleeping on the sofa all around me, kitties making little snores, piled on top of each other in boxes, and the wood stove humming.  I have a long list of things I want to do but for now I’m enjoying just hanging out and listening to the wind against the barn walls.  I made porridge for breakfast and thawed a pot of chicken soup on the wood stove so we’re set for food for a while.  Matt did chores for me and got everybody in the barn where it is cold but dry and out of the wind.

Snow Day, Almost

After several days of blissfully dry roads we are back in the throes of winter.  Brookfield School (k-12) is closed and the roads are miserable.  I am home for the day even though my school in Norwich only has a 2 hour delay.  Matt left for Syracuse in my beautiful pristine classic Volvo.  I have mixed feelings about him taking my car but it leaves me blissfully stranded on the farm which is absolutely delightful.  I am suddenly presented with many possibilities as to how I can fill my day.  I can make soap and hand cream or cut out Bundaflicka Knitting Totes to my hearts content, that is, if my gnarled fingers cooperate.  The sweet young rheumatologist I saw recently told me “we lose more tools to rust than wear.”   There is no going back, only pain management he says.  My hands have served me well over the years providing me with hundreds of totes, clothes, curtains, slip covers, and thousands of pounds of soap and hand cream.  Then there is the hundreds of lives I’ve brought into the world and the tons of fiber they produced.   I should be satisfied but I’ve got a long way to go God willing and Beaver Creek don’t rise.

A New Year

One month down into 2020.  This winter seems to be milder than years past which is a real blessing.  Let’s see what is the news?  After such a long hiatus I’ll try to catch up.

AJ aka Father Aaron has left the US Army after deployments to Cuba, South Korea and Afghanistan and most recently a year serving as chaplain at Fort Drum.  He is living in his hometown of Morristown NJ and hopes to get involved in local Democratic politics.

Mia has moved from Boulder Colorado back to NJ and is working in the emergency department at Jersey City Medical Center.  She loves the farm and is a big help to me in so many ways.

Eric and family are living and working in Monterey California where he is a BSA executive.  Annie misses her Maine house and the knit shop where she worked.  Eric and Luke are happy as pigs in slop.  Motorcycle weather all year round.  Hannah is serving in the Marine Corp at Iwakuni Naval Air Station in Japan doing avionics on F35 fighter jets for the third year.  Luke has joined the Marines and earned a full scholarship to the Virginia Military Institute starting this summer.

The farm is still the farm with plenty of sheep, goats,chickens,rabbits,dogs,cats, and three cows.  I still teach school full time but the farm is my primary job, 24/7/365.  It’s just the way things are.