Morning Chorus

The birds have returned, too--about the same time that we settled back on our farm, we were joined by many avian neighbors we'd been missing since last fall.  A few days after our move back, I heard the first prehistoric scraaawk of the Sandhill Cranes that summer in the cow pasture next door (still haven't seen them, but we've heard them).  And when the sun is hitting Blodgett Canyon like this, in the mornings, there is now a wild chorus of meadowlarks, blackbirds, sparrows, and (first one spotted yesterday), robin.  Welcome back, everyone.

We have officially landed.  After 6 months in the rental cabin 6 miles away, we have returned to the farm--not quite in the way we'd initially hoped when we started in on building a small strawbale house last fall, but in at least in a space we can make cozy, settle into, and start to make our own.  The transformation of the barn from a dusty, dirty, drafty storage space into a warm (mostly), insulated, sealed space with a  few new windows has been a crazy journey all of its own.  But here we are.  Mabel has laid claim to the space in front of the stove, as always.  Noah and I are each allotted a small corner on opposite sides of the upstairs hayloft-turned-bedroom-and-office, and are considering how to make our corners our own, once a few more carpentry projects are sorted and seeds are started.  Hershey has returned to patrolling the farm for mice and voles, and Malaya has graduated to being allowed general outdoor roaming, taking her beauty-sleep naps tucked under the dishwashing table in the outdoor strawbale kitchen.

There is not yet any running water indoors, but the simple ability to finish work and go to sleep without a commute, the ability to sit down at a table and write a few lines, the ability to walk out the door and be at our own place....they all feel like a good improvement and a good way to start what will soon be spring.  I hope this space, this coziness, makes space for more sharing and reaching out, too.