Moving on

We are winding down. We've barely been farmers for 6 years now but it's time to wind down. This has been on my mind a lot as I consider how physical farming is and how it really can't be done part-time. At least not the amount of work that we need to engage in to get the barn back in shape and do things around the farm yard that will improve it's looks and ability to function. Not sure if the animals are picking up on this. They do their animal thing and trust that we will take care of them. We do our best - but still haven't outwitted the fox or raccoon that have visited recently. The containers that hold food are broken into and a couple of our older birds have died from old age, or been on the menu for another creature. I consider this element of life also a lot as I think about the many, many posts of animals getting along and acting all cute and cuddly. And they very well may feel that way the moment the picture is snapped. But give it a few minutes or a day or two and there is no more cute n cuddly photo op. That animal may be raging against who knows what or it turns on it's best friend, human or otherwise. We can't fully, completely control what anyone else, including animals do...so we need to be wise when we engage with them. Even the most trustworthy of pets can snap and bite if sick, injured or feeling cornered. It isn't thinking about it's relationship with the other live being in the scenario...it's acting on instinct and that instinct can direct it to self-protective behavior. When our 100% lovable mini-Schnauzer was still with us, people would ask if they could pet her. And they'd ask if she bit. I said she never had but I would never 100% say it couldn't happen. She was a dog. (She never did bite anyone throughout her days...not even Ivanhoe the cat who would ambush her from the futon in the living room and then engage in a wrestling match.)