Startling Incounters with Unexpected Creatures

I have now had several adventures that involve little creatures I was not expecting. I will start of with the more mild ones and then move onto the more adventuresome ones.

The other day I went to the turkey pen to dump out their nasty dirty water and re-fill it. When I got to their pen I noticed a dove fluttering all over trying to get out. I have no idea how that dove got in there, the turkey pen has a fence all around and a tarp over it that doesn't have a hole a dove could fit through. Anyways I caught the dove and stroked it for a bit then let it go. This is the most mild adventure.

I was downstairs in my room reading and I kept hearing this scratching noise. For the life of me I could not find where the noise was coming from, for it stopped every time I stood and looked for it. It almost sounded like a bug of some sort climbing through papers. So I re-organized my papers and cleaned a bit. Well still no sign of the culprit of the noise. Then for some odd reason I looked down at my pair of high-heels, there in the instep of my shoe was the culprit. It was a large gray beetle that had some how managed to get in my shoe and was trying to get out. The scratching noise was coming from his insect legs attempting to climb up the satin inside of my shoe. Sends shivers up my spine.

I was scooping out various grains to take to the chickens. I reached the scooper in one bag and saw something jump. I thought it was a leaf that might have blown in. I don't know why I would have thought that given the lack of wind here. Anyways I reached in again and the thing moved again. This time I decided to take a closer look. Any guesses as to what it was? I'll give you a hint. "Squeak squeak" Yep, it was a little mouse. Laura and Monte were both out of town, so I had to deal with it myself. I didn't know what to do, so I just used the scooper to lift it out of the bag and then a dumped it out and it ran off somewhere.

Today was the most alarming one. Since today was market day, I try to look nicer. I lifted up my hamper of clean clothes that I still need to put away, and dumped it on my bed so that I could find the shirt I wanted to wear. I soon found it. And then I looked over to where I had had the hamper. Can you guess what I saw there? Laura says they have only come into the house very rarely. Think also that I am in the desert. It is also one of the star symbols you might have been born under. Any more guesses? Alright hold your horses I will tell you what it was. It was a scorpion. Thankfully Monte was not out of town. I called upstairs asking "How do you kill a scorpion that is in your room?" He called back down "you squash it." I thought I can deal with mice and bugs, and maybe spiders, but I cannot deal with this scorpion. I didn't have to. Monte came down and killed it. He took a metal pole and squashed it's head and the tail curled around the pole as if one last attempt to sting what ever was killing it. Shudders up and down my spine to think that that poisonous thing was in my room, under my clean laundry.

Those are all my adventure currently that involve little unexpected creatures. I don't want anymore for a LONG time.

I have a funny story to tell now about a goat. It is my week to milk the goats. We have this milking platform that can do two goats at a time. When one goat finishes we take them back to the pen and get another one. On Tuesday night I took one back to get the next one. As I approached the gate I called out "who's next?" And Bella did a baseball skid up to the gate. I am not familiar with the baseball terms so please forgive me in this explanation. Picture a baseball game, and the person who just swung the bat is running to the bases but will be out soon if he doesn't touch the base within seconds so he does this kind of slide/skid to the base. That is what Bella did. I didn't know goats could even do that. It was hilarious to behold.

Because of the egg re-call the government are going to try to make more regulations to meet to be a chicken farmer. It is very vexing because that is one of the last things we need more of. More regulations can hurt the small farmer who does things properly. What we need is not more regulations but open doors to see how those factory chickens are raised and vote with our dollar what food we buy. People should have the right to see how the food the consume is raised. We don't need more rules. We went to this meeting today where someone who represents the agriculture committee in Washington was going to be present. She didn't really listen to a word the local farmers said, she just turned everything we said around. She said the bill for more regulations will probably pass soon and then they will get together and decide on what exactly those rules/regulations might be. At least this is what I understood of it, I was not fully present I will admit, because I believe part of my subconscious was beginning to doze. I do however know that our free country is becoming more socialist every day and with every bill that seems to be passed. I worry for our country.

In a lecture I re-listened to this last Friday while I was cutting peppers. The speaker said there are four lost ideals of America. I may paraphrase a lot, because I don't remember the exact way he said it, I just remember the gist of what he said. In fact some of you may know exactly which lecture I am quoting and know how to explain it much better, and may even think I am ruining and missing the point of what the speaker said. I apologize in advance now. These four things help maintain freedom. Freedom is the fifth thing and the only thing we still seem to remember. The first word we have forgotten that makes America what it was is Georgic. Georgic means to own the land. America used to be mainly independent people, people who owned their land and owned their businesses. And because they were these independent people, a georgic society they could make more of in impact on the nation's outcome. The second was the word Providence, which was more then just believing in a Higher Power, it was believing in that God and that he had given you a purpose/ mission in life. The third forgotten word is Liber. Liber is the root word for Liberty and Library. To be liber means you are educated, and you use that education to make a difference. Anyone can read and write but what they do with that education can be the difference between a liber person and just a well educated person. The fourth word was Public Virtue. Is what you do to help society become better, to change the world for the better. Where you give of yourself to make this change. The last word is Freedom. This word we are also forgetting slowly.
Soon America may be nothing left but a memory of what was.

The things I am learning here are more then just farming. I am learning in some ways how to be one of the needed leaders at this time of crisis. I am learning things here that I need to know for my future family, and my country.
I am so thankful that The Lord lit this spark inside of me when my sister told me about this farm.

"And whatsoever ye do, in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus. Giving thanks unto God and the Father by him." -Colossians 3:17
I am truly thankful to be here at this time!