a man and his hoe

every day is a good day

  • Food Just Is

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    Grow a variety of food, and you begin to realize that food just is. Like the air, it’s all around us. You don’t stop and think where you are going to get your next breath of air. You don’t go shopping for it. Everywhere you walk, air is all around you, and no one is charging you for it.

    For most of life on earth, food is like air. It’s just there. An earthworm digging its way through the earth finds things to eat everywhere. Herons don’t go shopping for food. They go from pond to pond, field to field, finding food everywhere.

    The handful of garlic I’m chopping for dinner is like that. I have a basket full of garlic left over from all the garlic I pulled this summer. It didn’t cost me a penny. It didn’t even take a lot of time and effort. Garlic is as alive as you are. Stick a clove of garlic in the ground in the fall, and next summer, you’ll have a full bulb of it.

    Most of the garlic I harvested this summer, I ended up planting, but there is plenty left over to last until next summer. It’s that way with the chicken and eggs. They aren’t things to buy. They are just things that are there. The same with all the various greens in their season.

    For most of humanity, food is no longer something that just is. You can grow very little food in a small apartment on the 35th floor of a tower. Most people now live in cities so dense and vast, it’s inconceivable for them to imagine living surrounded by food growing for the taking. It’s something that you have to buy, something you have to work for. It’s become the product of some company, stuff that comes wrapped in plastic, packaged in boxes or cans, it’s no longer something that is part of your surrounding environment like air.

  • Happy New Year-明けましておめでとう

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    2015 started with brilliant sunshine, a great way to start a new year. Early in the morning, Sven and his hen admirers are out at the edge of the property, scratching through the underbrush of a large cedar.

    It’s nearly impossible to go through a day without learning something new. Maybe this is something you did not know: Chickens love bridges. A favorite bridge of the chickens here, is this bridge across the stream. It connects two of their popular hangouts.

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    Throughout the day, hundreds of crossings are made by the chickens. Even on a frosty morning like today, it is in constant use. Back and forth, back and forth, it’s rare when there isn’t a chicken or two on the bridge. At times they like to pause on the bridge and watch the stream flow below. Maybe they are thankful they don’t have to get their feet wet. Who knows, this may be the busiest outdoor chicken bridge in all of chickendom.

    Below, you can see King Richard parading across the bridge.

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    So now, if you encounter a crossword puzzle hint that says, “What do chickens like?” See if the word “bridge” or “bridges” works.

  • Swans Celebrating

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    It’s a brilliant end to the year, and the swans are celebrating already. I stopped by a flock on my way home from an errand today. There were hundreds in this flock, and I passed other flocks on my short errand. They are constantly talking, but about what? These are exuberant birds. If you play the audio below, you’ll get an idea what it’s like to observe them.


    I feel very lucky to live where the swans visit every winter. With their long voyages, they must have plenty to talk about. One day we’ll be able to point our smart phones at them and get instantaneous translations of what they are saying. And we’ll be able to talk into our phones and out will come a stream of honks the swans will comprehend.

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  • The Beauty of Cold

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    Snow is dusting the surrounding hills. The morning grass is white with frost. King Richard’s crows carry a long ways on a bright, winter morning. The cold doesn’t deter the hens from laying eggs. Ruby is settled in a nest, getting ready to lay an egg. With daylight just three minutes longer than a week ago, the hens seem to sense that spring is coming. They are already laying more eggs.

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  • Woody 1999~2014

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    Often when a year ends and a new one begins, other than the dates on the calendar changing, there’s very little to mark the change. This year, for us, there are many endings and beginnings. Yesterday evening, marked another ending. Woody, our dear friend for fifteen years, passed away peacefully, lying comfortably between us on the couch.

    He was always such a cheerful companion. He spent many hours in the evening, snuggled between my legs when I relaxed on the couch. It’s hard to imagine life without him. His health started to deteriorate this summer, and these last few weeks, he weakened so much, that we scheduled our veterinarian to come on Monday for a final farewell. But he went on his own, with our hands comforting him.

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    Woody was a great companion for his sister, Winnie, until she suddenly died nine years ago, and after that, he was Rusty’s best friend and playmate.

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    After saying our goodbyes, we wrapped him in one of his blankets, and let him spend the night on one of his favorite chairs by the wood stove. During the winter, he loved lying in front of the warm wood stove, or on the chair next to it. This morning we buried him in the garden, next to his sister. In a few months, his grave will be surrounded by beautiful flowers, and we’ll fondly remember our dear friend each time we walk by.

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