Farm Drama

"Don't grieve. Anything you lose comes round in another form." - Rumi. Been a tough couple o' weeks here at the barn. On Labor Day the overnight temp dipped to 23 degrees Fahrenheit. Cold 'nough to freeze everything pretty hard. There wasn't really enough stuff left to take to Farmer's Market so we skipped out on the final weekend. The next morn' (Sept 7) a bear broke into the chicken run after we'd left for work. She managed to get four before the neighbors chased her off. She came back again the next night and got into the coop. The neighbors woke us up at three-thirty in the morning. " There's a bear in the chicken coop! There's a bear in the chicken coop!" We jumped out of bed, grabbed flashlights, the rifle, the hatchet, a couple pots and pans, and roman candles and ran outside into the pitch darkness. We got to the chicken coop and peered in the window. Lots of feathers but no bear. We searched around but couldn't see anything so returned to the coop to survey the damage. Looked in the window again and there she was. A huge sow in the entry way munching on chicken. Should have shot her right then and there! She looked up at us and turned towards us. "Here she comes, RRRun!" We r-u-n-n o-f-t, and Kaya dog chased her into the bushes. Lit a roman candle off and shot it that a way. We could hear her cub cross the field screaming. Spent the rest of the morning standing guard. She hung around in the bushes till about seven then wandered off. Lost 7 chickens total. I'll spare you the graphic pictures. It could a been a lot worse if it weren't for the neighbors. We owe them big time. The next couple of days were spent shoring up the fence and coop, and installing an electric fence around it. Haven't seen hide nor hair of the bears since. And if that weren't enough, on Tuesday (Sept 14 ) Sweet Pea Produce, the only source for locally grown whole foods in the valley, got shut down by the county. I got there after work to pick up a couple of cases of canning tomatoes and there were people and produce everywhere! Talked to the owners a bit and they were like get it while you can, everything's got to go, we'll give it to you for cost. So I came home with 6 cases of maters, a case of apples, case of pears, case of peaches, two cases of corn, and a bunch of groceries. It's all got to be canned or frozen ASAP. On a positive note, found the camera. The aspen leaves are just starting to turn. Fall is in the air. What a beautiful time of year!