October 2, 2025

Des morgenstund hat gold in mund!

From a centuries-old German poem. Translated that comes to "the morning-hour is golden", meaning work is best started early... children had best get out of their lazy beds and work! All that aside, the morning hour in early fall is golden, a soft golden light that seems to rest in the air and turn the farm into a mellow golden world completely set aside from the workaday bustle of the summertime. The farm family start their day off slowly, easing into work instead of plunging in. Chilly dark mornings are occupied with catching-up work such as the dry-bean pile. Later on the golden light fades and is replaced with the bright blue of the sky and the vibrant green of the hills, helped along with the inch and a quarter rain we got last week. Frost will be upon us all too soon.

The newest members of the farm family, six-week-old Rhode Island Red chicks, are doing well and in spite of the chilly weather are now past the age of heat banks and hot water bottles and keep each other warm by cuddling together during the night. A mass of soft brown feathers spreads out in a corner of the henhouse. Farmer girl shines a light on them when she comes to lock them in for the night. Heads rise from the pile and small alert eyes follow every move of the light. At some point they will be moved to their new home, which hasn't been built yet... a henhouse on wheels, which can be moved as they need new pasture.