Hello Reader, The sheep are registering opinions about the recent actions taken by management. Some of you might wonder about the idea of sheep even having opinions. I assure you, they do. Exhibit A: Martin Martin is generally a calm, quiet fellow. He rarely speaks, but he observes. Intently. He recently watched a couple of his Merino ewe friends leave the flock for alternate lodgings. This week he first witnessed Wrestlemania, Ewe Stall Edition, while some hooves were trimmed. Then he...
about 12 hours ago • 4 min read
Hello Reader, The caller ID on the early morning phone call read "US GOV'T." That'll get your blood pumping first thing in the morning. Especially if you're a slightly neurotic, people-pleasing, rule-following first-born daughter. Never mind the fact that I'd gone to bed the night before expecting the call. You could honestly say I was eagerly expecting it. My brain had spent at least part of the night processing my expectations via dreams that might make an interesting, but trippy,...
7 days ago • 6 min read
Hello Reader, Friends, my new paper planner arrived in the mail this week. There was much rejoicing. Some of you may be shaking your head after reading those sentences. Who buys paper planners these days? Does the woman not have a phone? Does she not realize it does more than send texts and take pictures? The rest of you either know me or understand me. Yes. I have a phone. I have a calendar on my phone. It is positively bursting with appointments, reminders, holidays, birthdays, and "maybe"...
14 days ago • 6 min read
Hello Reader, Things are always changing at Pemberley Farm. Sheep rotate paddocks. Chickens establish new laying locations. Infirmary residents are discharged. New (to us) structures appear. This week Human Resources created a new position: Security Intern. This handsome gentleman is Samson. He’s a nine-year-old Great Pyrenees/Anatolian Shepherd mix. I know current regulations frown upon asking and disclosing these sorts of information about employees, but we make some exceptions here. And...
21 days ago • 6 min read
Hello Reader, We live in strange times. This is not news to anyone currently living in these times with me. We’re all in the strange soup together. This may be one reason why I tend to check out when Greg turns on the news at night. I don’t really require more evidence to build my case for The Oddness in How Things Are Right Now. I’m sure all of you have some spectacular examples of your own. Rather than watch the news, which tends toward the dreariest examples of strange, I’d love to swap...
28 days ago • 7 min read
Hello Reader, It's been a good month in the media consumption department. We saw The Odyssey a couple weeks ago. It was fantastic. My nerd heart soared. I'll have goosebumps for months when I hear the notes surrounding that iconic bow twang. Awesome. And yesterday, I finished listening to Theo from Golden. I'd had it recommended to me by several people, and I have to tell you, it exceeded expectations. It's one of the most beautifully accessible stories about the value of seeing, listening...
about 1 month ago • 7 min read
Hello Reader, I have lived sufficient years to know that summer is going to come to an end. Winter is coming. It will be cold again. I will wish for more layers of clothing than a human can practically wear at one time and remain mobile. But at the moment, there are simply too many Fahrenheits running loose around these parts. We've been under heat warnings and heat advisories and heat whinings for days (okay, the last part is just me). I sent this screenshot to my son the other day: His...
about 1 month ago • 6 min read
Hello Reader, I don't know about you, but to me, it's starting to feel a little dangerous to go to the grocery store. Lettuce. Now eggs. I even saw a shocking recall announcement about a coffee product in New York and New Jersey the other day. Talk about a nightmare. It makes the rebellious teenager corner of my heart think that hyper processed food might not be the worst thing I could eat at the moment. Then the mid-fifties reality-based body points out that the rebellious teenager is in the...
about 2 months ago • 5 min read
Hello Reader, Last week's winning poll option was all about the stick-tights. It turns out that stick-tights may have also been slightly symbolic for the week ahead. Flocking Let me share with you the wonderful weirdness I witnessed this week about the flocking instinct in the sheep here at Pemberley Farm. A group of sheep is called a flock, but "flocking" is also the word used to describe the behavior sheep and other animals use to move together as a group. Sheep are happiest as one of many....
about 2 months ago • 6 min read
Hello Reader, They start off simply when we're young. If Sally has 3 apples and Herman has 4 apples, how many apples do they have all together? As we progress, the scenarios get more complex. We add people and variables and operations, and before you know it, we've got multiple trains leaving stations at different times heading different directions at varying speeds and we are instructed to calculate arrival times, distances traveled, and engineers' first names. As we were working out how to...
2 months ago • 6 min read
