Untitled - So Far

Lately, I've realized that it's somewhat discourteous to have family and friends always telling me how clumsy I am. OK, so farming holds a few dangers for the uninitiated and there have been the odd accident or two, emphasis on the 'odd'. Who could be more unitiated than a novice farmer?

Who knew a tractor would tip over that easily? And sliding 3 stories out of the hayloft, face first, on my belly was never something I imagined. If I had imagined it, I certainly would not have volunteered. Still, it happened. Alright so, a series of slight accidents several winters ago resulted first in 3 broken toes on my right foot, then a few days later a couple of broken ribs, followed by 3 broken toes on my left foot. None of those incidents was exactly foreseeable. And only one of the broken bones resulted from a fall (off an icy loading dock). It could have happened to anyone. They just happened to happen to me.

Face it, as a computer geek, most of my waking life is spent with my ass in a chair and my head in the clouds where all good creative thinking takes place. So, I was unused the need to be so completely aware of my physical environment. But I’m learning.

Of course, my balance has improved a thousand fold and I haven’t had a farming ‘mishap’ since before June 4th 2006. You might ask why that date precisely? That was the day I had my tonsils out, my uvula (hangy-down thing in the back of your mouth) trimmed, my deviated septum un-deviated and passages to my sinuses enlarged. Now I can do something I have never been able to do – stand on one foot! Pretty cool.

The point is I am not a klutz. And when I make it to June 4th 2007 with out anymore mishaps, I am going to have a big party. I’ll invite all my friends. I’ll be serving crow.

Why is it Evolution *VS* Intelligent Design?

I'll be right upfront about my bias - I am a BIOLOGIST by training. I believe strongly in Evolution.

The problem I see with the Evolution/Intelligent Design debate is the assumption by both sides that these ideas are incompatible.

Evolution is a scientific theory, the compilation of observation and experimentation. It is the product of REASON. Intelligent Design is the belief that someone/something intentionally created life. It is the product of FAITH.

Reason and Faith are not mutally exclusive. As far as I know, science has no way to measure intent. Scientists overstep when they say categorically that life was not intentional. They may not believe life was deliberately created but, since there is currently no way to test this through observation or experiment, the question, from a scientific point of view, is an open one.

As for The Faithful, if the products of REASON can challenge your FAITH, the problem isn't with REASON it's with your FAITH. The core of your FAITH should not be able to be shaken.

If your Faith demands that human understanding of the mechanics of life never grow or change, you are going to be disappointed. If your Faith concedes that human understanding (of science, theology and everything else) is incomplete, then new ideas and new points of view will add to your sense of wonder and strengthen your FAITH.

Mental Health for the 21st Century - AKA Blog Avoidance Syndrome

I started writing in this forum to bolster the habit of daily writing and to force myself to go beyond the seemingly random wanderings of my private journals. In short, I figured the prospect of a potential audience would help add structure and direction. Nice thought.

I haven't managed daily anything in relationship to my blog except - Blog Avoidance. Something about writing for public consumption started making me squirm. Hell, what have I got to write about? Certainly, no one would be interested in the daily farm life of a novice like me. Who on earth wants to read about chickens? Or horses?

Ok, I didn't get that part right either. Turns out loads and loads of people are writing about chickens. And horses. Just go to Google and search for "chicken coop plans". When I did just that this morning, I got nearly 2,000,000 results. Who knew?

So there's another lesson learned for this novice farmer: I am not alone! Now, if I can only figure out the best ways for containing mounting piles of chicken shit.... Happy Easter

Of Horses, Chickens and Pigeons

We have horses. Or my partner has horses, Morgan show horses. Eighteen months ago, while we were away at a horse show, a friend anonymously "donated" a few chickens. We named them George, Tuesday, Henrietta 1 and Henrietta 2. Two roosters and two hens. And that was OK.

So, we gave them their own space in the horse barn, a little bedding and bought a bag of chicken food. Something called "laying pellets" to increase egg production. No big deal, right? Sure.

Turns out that the chickens preferred to be out in the pasture with the horses and eat horse grain. The chickens got fat, they layed eggs - but who was eating the chicken food? Pigeons. And you know what? Those damned laying pellets really do increase egg production.

We live on the northern coast of Maine. You can just about spit into Canada from here (although we would never think of doing such a thing). It is cold up here, really cold. But do the pigeons care? No. February 12th 2005 we had multiple pigeon nests in the rafters of the horse barn with eggs in them. It was 18 degrees outside. But those damned birds just kept laying eggs. By the end of the summer of 2005, the pigeon numbers had increased from 12 to 42.

Partway through the summer, foxes got the chickens. So we stopped putting out chicken food and started concentrating on keeping pigeons out of the horse barn. We were making some progress. Then Tuesday (one of the roosters), miraculously reappeared. He'd been hiding out in the woods in front of the house but now he was back in the barn. No laying pellets for this guy, he eats horse grain and cracked corn. He's fat and happy.

I guess our anonymous friend decided that Tuesday must be lonely. A couple of days ago, six more anonymous chickens arrived. Laying pellets again. Damn. I guess the pigeons are going to be having fun.

Favorite Poets

I'll keep adding to this as I remember more names:

Mary Oliver
Irena Klepfisz
Adrienne Rich
Judy Grahn
Carolyn Forche
Sharon Olds
Galway Kinnell
Muriel Rukeyser
St John of the Cross

Lesson One for a Novice Farmer

Common Sense is not my strong suit. I am very good at very complicated things; it is the simple things that elude me. The first lesson I learned on the farm...

No matter how much fun you are having, never, never smile with your mouth open when driving a tractor load of manure.