machines, hand tools, and future plans (?)

Hello Everyone,
I hope that everyone is doing well and soaking up the last days of summer. I guess that summer doesn't really end until September 22 but it always feels like it is over once people start going back to school [not me though :)]. I have pretty much been working hard on the farm. My boss, Richard has Lyme disease and has been not working as much the past few weeks as he might normally. I guess I don't know what he normally does, but it seems like he has been taking more naps than most farmers would if they weren't sick. So, the result is that I feel a little bit like I have been assuming/having thrust upon me more and more responsibility on the farm. It is kind of cool because I am learning more that you really have to think about a lot of things and keep everything on a farm in balance to be successful. However, it is also a lot more stressful because I kind of get blamed when things go wrong more often. So I have been working a lot. The good news is that the family is going out of town for a few days starting tomorrow, so I get to completely run the farm. I also plan on taking some afternoon naps and taking it fairly easy to try to regain some of my energy.

A couple of weeks ago, I went to NYC to visit my step siblings. I mainly hung out with my stepbrother Michael, who is my age and about to start an Americorps position in Puerto Rico. He and I shared a room for a few years after our parents married, so we have been pretty close over the years and it was really fun to hang out with him and catch up. I also got to see my stepbrother John and my stepsister Bowie. Bowie just got engaged and she is pretty excited about that. New York was pretty overwhelming for a country boy like myself, especially since I am used to seeing four or five people on any given day and all of the sudden I was surrounded with people. It was a nice change of scenery from the farm though.

I just finished reading Pigs in Heaven. It was a pretty good book. It is basically about what it means to be american indian in contemporary america, but it is also just about what it means to be family. I am kind of a sucker for nice family stories so I really enjoyed that book. Other than that I have been reading books on farming and harvesting grains and hay with hand tools. So, look for me to be scything a field of hay any day now. I am definitely realizing how crappy I am with machines and engines, so I think I need to have a farm that is mostly powered by my sweat and some horses. Tractors are not my friend.

Finally, just a little update on what I am doing in the short term future. I am working here at Cowberry Crossing until the beginning of November and then kind of working, kind of travelling during november and december. I definitely hope to visit some of y'all during that time, but there are so many of you to visit and we all are scattered to the four winds. I am farmsitting here from december 27 to january 10 while they are on vacation. After that I am officially done here and am thinking of going to the Gulf Coast to do relief work for a month or two and then maybe WOOFing or getting a job on another farm that would last for a few months. We'll see what happens. I miss you all a lot a lot. Take care.