"Be Joyful, though you have considered all the facts" Wendell Berry-

A brief update-
   For all of you who have not heard, my dad is finishing his days here with us. Firstly I would say that, though his body is failing him daily... He is well. We all are well. For those of you who have not heard, my baby sister Brigid and her husband Tim are expecting their first child this spring. We are blessed. How could we not be? The roof over our head, that sets the parameters of  hearth and home, continues to stand. The fire in the box continues to warm us, and the love we have for each other endures. We are blessed, and we continue live right on....
   Mark Porter has joined us for the evening, he mitered the top edge of dad's casket; and though he brought no beer... I thank him for his effort.
   The Farm-
What to say about the farm? The creek has so far stayed within it's banks, and the animals as of dusk this evening had not floated away; except for one. Andy, the younger of my guardian dogs (they live with the sheep) has wandered away. I checked the "far away home" pasture where I left them, but I couldn't find him there. With a quick prayer to St. Anthony and St. Francis I left  him to their care and came home to look after dad. With any luck he will have found his way back by morning and all will be well. If he has not returned by morning then the search is on, and with any luck he will turn up in short order. If I have learned anything about these dogs is that they never wander far; I am thankful for that.
   The sheep seem to be doing well, I wish I had a slightly less soggy pasture to put them in, but for the rest of the week where they are will have to do. The rams were turned out with the flock a few weeks ago and so we should expect lambs by the beginning if April.
   The pigs-
       The pigs..... What to say about the pigs? They have taught me humility. Or rather they are teaching me daily. I often think that men (and women) in places of authority should spend a year raising pigs. The idea that we as humans have any control over the natural world, or can bend it to conform to our own standers, is summarily blown out of the water by curious, inquisitive, destructive, food hungry, deviant, comical, pigs.... I thank them for that.