season of rest

winter fluctuates...for me...between two existences here in new england. between rest and boredom. the grass is gone. the veggies have been pulled. the flowers have finished. life becomes less picturesque. less of the bucolic pasture-life i love to show. everything is either a sticky muddy mess or frozen solid. most animals move indoors. into the bowels of an old barn. life becomes a series of mazes. with everyone in different stalls. everyone still in need of feed and unfrozen water. life becomes more condensed on the farm in the winter. which is good in some respects. everybody is warm. everybody is together. its like a party in the barn. the party get's a little old in march, when everybody is still inside. still in such Close Quarters. but for now. it's new. it's warm.

we don't have enough barn space here on our farm outside of boston. so we are making do with a hijacked greenhouse and a couple of animal houses nick and i built for the pigs and chickens. bella has a windbreak. the big barn is filled with vegetable farming equipment, but we have one stall saved for Us. the one stall will be our savior some nights. some nights when the wind and the freezing, sleeting, unforgiving rain is more than what bella or the pigs can stand.

so we don't have quite the same jovial animal kingdom going on in our barn here as they do at the farm in western massachusetts.  we were at the farm last friday for a visit and i spent most of my day sitting in the barn amongst all the animals. observing. hiding from the cutting wind outside. thankful for the big barn. thankful for the animals and their acceptance of Winter.  we spend all summer waiting for the Rest that winter brings. and now we will spend all winter waiting for the Life that summer brings. i love the cycle of this. i cherish how connected it makes me feel to the earth and to the animals. and so here we  are in the last few days of autumn. the first few inches of the ground have frozen. everyone is at their winter stations. we are all ready for the winter solstice this thursday. all ready for the official Season of Rest to begin.