we made it

it's monday morning here in canada. i just finished swimming laps between two islands and it's nearly time for lunch. the pace of the day...coupled by the cool breeze and the temperate water...and the nearly 900 miles of driven miles makes me wonder if that really was us just four days ago. running away at dusk.

the day had started off innocently enough. fiona and billy had already taken a carload of our most coveted pots, pans, tea cups, and overalls north the week before. despite their help and the attempted early organization of that first carload we were left with a series of unruly small bags and boxes and buckets. it took the better part of last thursday to tetris all the pieces into the bed of the truck...with some last minute surprises like a Second 50 gallon barrel of filtered veggie oil. once the bed was packed and strapped in with tarps and bungies we serenely planned that we would load everyone up. the bees, the chickens, the duck, the pigs, the cow, the traditional domestics (a la cats & dog). then we would shower. eat. leave.

but it was nearing Dangerous Temperatures once the noah's ark was loaded and we didn't have time to do anything but go. so go we did. we left just a couple hours before sunset. in the heat of it all. without showers. in clothes still caked with carolina mud.

we drove through the night to ensure the coolest weather for our cargo. i am so grateful and so genuinely surprised that everyone made it to the berkshires safely. the farm we arrived at was more magical and serene and welcoming than we could have ever hoped for. we spent the past several days there. embedding our flock with theirs. these good people are going to watch over our animals until we return in september. then we will repay them with two months work this fall. it won't be difficult. they may work us from sun up to down. but it comes with fresh cow's milk and cheese and yogurt and homemade granola and bread and blueberry wine and seven beautiful men and women all bathing in a creek and eating around one table and trying to live and farm through life like nick and i.

so there i was. and there the animals were. and here i am now. g&t in hand...taking a small break from farmlife to enjoy how the other half lives. the half without chickens waking them up at dawn.