Dear Farm Journal,

On this chilly Saturday morning, we did not work outside. Instead, I sat on the couch between Rufus and Aurora and researched farm animals. I started with Jersey cows, as this is the breed of dairy cow we have been talking about bringing onto the farm. I have continued to get mixed advice about this decision. At croquet last night, Kenny Workowski doled out stern yet sound consultation against the idea. He said things like, “you are going to be married to that cow” and “all you do is shovel it in one end and out the other” and “it’s not worth it”. His wife Shel interjected that I should not let Kenny talk me out of it, if I really wanted a cow. Our friend Teague, overhearing the conversation, urged us to “go ahead and do it”. I have taken all of this in and still find myself on the infamous Craigslist search in the farm and garden category looking at all sorts of farm animals. As Aurora and I looked at different animals, we digressed from cows to chickens, horses, goats, pigs, sheep, buffalos, yaks, llamas, and our favorite, the mini donkey. We bantered back and forth about how cute a baby mini donkey is and how adorable it would be to have him pull a little cart around or greet visitors to Keewaydin. Of course, Rufus is not so dazzled by the idea of bringing animals to the farm that do not provide some sort of trade. The chickens give eggs. The cow gives milk. What would a mini donkey do other than eat and shit? Um…be adorable. We laughed as we read the entertaining ads that were posted on craigslist. It is hilarious how animal owners write about their animals when attempting to sell them. They use terms and phrases like, “lively”, “spirited”. Rufus quickly informs us that this means the animal is an asshole, will kick the shit out of you, and basically the owner wants the animal out of his sight…thus it is on deck for  “rehoming”. I don’t know that we would actually make another Craigslist animal purchase after our chicken experience, but it was certainly fun to look.

~Joy