Twenty degrees again this morning. I just took a thawed hummingbird feeder out so the poor little guy who was trying to lick on the frozen one could get some sustenance. There are a few hummers that didn't go elsewhere for the winter, less here this year than in the past. The feeders never thawed yesterday...I think it got all the way up to thirty-two late in the afternoon. (The weatherman who said thirty-seven didn't look at my thermometer.) I'll have to take warm water out to the chickens today; their waterers stayed frozen, too. I keep a special stick nearby to break the ice in the goat trough. My view today is as white with frost as if it had snowed.
There is an unexpected drawback to writing this blog. I don't have a lot of interaction with "real-life" people, and sometimes I forget to whom I spoke last and/or whether I told them such-and-such, and I dislike repeating myself. (Repetition is a curse of age, anyhow.) Since most of the people with whom I do converse also (thankfully) read the blog, I have nothing new to say! "Oh, yes...I read about that." Or, on the off chance that something of interest might have cropped up, I can't say it out loud because it is blog fodder. I was writing a letter to a friend this morning, and I can't say any of the good stuff I was writing to her, as she would think I was giving her predigested information and it would hurt her feelings.
A word about letters. (And it is not just because I am reading "As Always, Julia." Please note the correction of the title.) I truly enjoy, utilize, and appreciate the expediency and monetary savings of email...hearing from a friend in any form is wonderful...and to think one can instantaneously stay in touch for free no matter where you are in the world is amazing. But consider...in literature, where would we be without the collected correspondence of so many (including Julia Child)? No one is going to save the emails of our celebrities, authors, romantics, the movers and shakers of the world. Future generations are going to lose the experience of sharing and learning from the innermost fears, loves, hates, intrigues, losses, and triumphs of those who shape our lives...all because of the "delete key." This doesn't even speak to "reading between the lines" in a letter. Does the letter come on formal stationery or on a scrap of torn paper. Choice of pen/pencil speaks volumes. Emotion is reflected in handwriting...pressure, script, size, etc. A letter is personal. Perhaps this is not as far from the farm as might be imagined. While it is electronic...this is my letter, such as it is.
Lest I begin to repeat myself, HAPPY NEW YEAR from Farview Farm!!
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4 comments:
And to you and your community as well...lc
Excellent points about letters, but I wonder if those who hanker to write, and/or have something to say, have found expression via blogs, as you have. For, in essence, they are indeed your "letters" and it would be sooo cool if one day they would appear in hardcover print, as in a real book that we could touch, feel, open, close, and re-read. But, alas, I'm afraid you are right in terms of letters that have been deleted because the person is not yet famous, etc.
I was a guest at a luncheon on Wednesday for my 90 year old neighbor and the photographer for the event was at our table. Someone asked about "film" in a camera and that led to a brief discussion of "first cameras." She looked at least a decade younger than I, so when I told her that my first camera was a Brownie Hawkeye that was a Christmas present - circa 1957?? - she asked if I still had it, as it would be a great collector's item. The answer was, of course, no...as who would even think that they should save something that soon became outdated? We can't keep everything, but are we too much of a throw-away society now? Probably. But I do still have some old letters that wouldn't mean much to anyone else, but they are still precious to me! And I just received a Thank You note (formal note card, not scrap of torn paper) that looks as if it were written with a fountain pen...how cool is THAT???
After a week home with the family I've finally caught up with your blogs. None of them are deleted so there is a record of sorts about your life on Farview Farm. I suppose someone should copy-paste-save them to a CD or drive for future archiving? It's great excitement to see that there is now a cock in the hen house for the Silkes. I look forward to hearing about newly hatched arrivals. Leaving again for 3 months of work travel but I'll be stateside and home for most weekends and, of course, will be visiting your blog thoughts often. Late February will find me back in Wake, or so they think. Hopefully, the Internet there will be better then. A glorious New Year to you and your farm family.
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