PRACTICALITIES, WEATHER & BIG DREAMS

One of the magical things our family embraced when moving to the Northeast from Southern California decades ago was the opportunity to experience the changing of the seasons. Bare branches on the deciduous trees first sprout vivid lime greens, deepening to darker colors for summer, fiery hues in the fall, then elegant snow laden branches.

Do you have a favorite season where you live?

Dudley the Highland loves cool autumn and winter, and is stoic about summer heat. The goats and donkeys adore the summer heat and by wintertime you find them seeking the warmth of the sun or protection in the barns after snow or rain. The horses are shedding their short summer coats in exchange for the longer and denser winter coat. Our older or arthritic rescues will get coats, special bedding, or increased calories as appropriate.

The autumn equinox has arrived, and crop harvests are going strong. In the Northeast, drought is intense in many areas, causing die back on tree farms, limited harvests in some crops, and the lack of the second cutting of hay after the first cutting.

We are braced for limited amounts of second cutting hay - our alpaca and goats focus on that fodder. Prices will be up too, but we will work hard to make sure our rescues have the nutrition they need. My heart soared when I recently saw a large parcel of land in our town go up for sale (including haying fields), but the amount of money needed to purchase that is a huge capital campaign that would need a groundswell of support. I can dream BIG though!