Raudi here, weighing in on the state of the farm. It’s been a while since the last address – I should be giving such an address once a month since a lot happens around here. At the very least, the weather is in a constant state of change.

We are in what’s called the dead of winter. I really don’t like the term, but I don’t have the inclination to do anything about it. It’s sort of like Alys wanting to do something about the term Christmas eve. I agree with her – eve refers to evening. But the term now refers to the entire day. I was speaking to Tyra about this because she’s more attuned to the nuances of language than any of us. She told me that this is no big deal – human beings are

First camp from Lough Arrow II farm

human beings, and as such, they don’t do much more than shoot their mouths off. Hrimfara, intervening, agreed, adding that Alys tends to prattle quite a bit and that it’s bothersome. (For the record, Alys has noticed this and is going to do something about it.)

The dead of winter. We had our first and hopefully last major cold spell. We have thick winter coats; the hairs stand on end and this keeps the warm air close to our bodies. Nevertheless, cold is cold. We dealt with this by moving around a lot. This of course means we were pooping more. Alys and Pete continued to do a good job cleaning up after us. Now if we had thumbs, we’d of course give them a hand, but we do not.

The hay situation. I have one word to describe it – subpar. This year’s hay has been stemmy. Last year’s hay was grassy. I know that climate change has a great deal to do with this, but something ought to be done about the situation. Alys feels for us; of course, she’d rather feed us grass hay. She has told us all that we may move in the very near future.

I cast my vote for moving to Southern Colorado. I’d like to relocate to Andrea Brodie’s Lough Arrow II farm. I loved it there. There was plenty of pasturage and plenty of room to move around. I’m not sure I’d want to be a part of a large herd, but perhaps we three could have our own pasture. Alys likes the idea because there are plenty of trails nearby, and far-by, meaning like in New Mexico.

We haven’t been getting out much lately, mainly because the days have been so short. Alys and Pete are talking about our doing a horse trek this summer. We three think this is an excellent idea. Pete wants to go back and ride more of the Bob Marshall trail. Alys would be content riding in British Columbia.

I’m getting old, Ryder’s getting old. We gotta do this, this summer.

I have rattled on some. I obviously have a great deal to say. I’m going to lobby harder for my doing a once a month state of the farm address.

Next: 3. 1/3/24: And a Good Day was/is/will be had By All