Dear Farm Journal,

I find myself asking…What day is it? I know it is a school day because they called off school today and tomorrow for “extreme weather”. After living in Fairbanks, Alaska for 6 years, nothing here really seems like extreme weather. When I was a substitute teacher, I went to work when it was -50 degrees. I plugged in my car, had a steaming hot cup of coffee, chipped the thick layer of ice off my car, shoveled myself out, and drove my ass to school in complete and utter darkness…then did the same thing on the way home. It was extremely rare for school to be called off. They had snow chains on the school buses. Here, they call off school for two days when it is barely in the negative double digits. Wow, have we as a society, lost our ability to face even the slightest adversity? Did people forget how to go outside, and now they are frightened to expose themselves to the elements? And, don’t even get me (or Rufus) started on how annoyed we are with all the social media posts about the winter weather. I mean, if I see one more meme about cold temperatures, snow, ice, or Wisconsin weather, I am deleting my Facebook account. I mean, just give it a rest! It is called winter! If you don’t like it, move to a place where you can stop bitching. Anyways, here at Keewaydin, it is not so much the cold temperatures or snow, but the limited outdoor activity and burgeoning cabin fever that I suffer from. This time of year, the farm is pretty much shut down and working outside for long periods of time is difficult. We still work outside. I still go out to the chicken coop multiple times a day to keep their coop, food, and water in order. We continue to work on organizing and sawing lumber when we can, but shit is seriously limited compared to the fast pace of summer. I feel an increasing sense of boredom in the house that pushes me outdoors, even when it is unpleasant. Today, however was filled with the domestic tasks of dishes, laundry, sweeping, and cooking an awesome ass pot of venison chili. So good on days like this! I am still uneasy with being inside and inactive. I search for tasks and try to go up and down the stairs as much as possible, and maybe throw in a random set of push ups here and there.

~Joy