Donkeys are curious, reflective. They want to know what’s going on. So do I

   January 26, 2009 – My sister Jane just left, and it was only the second time she’s been to the farm. She brought her beautiful dog Georgia, a Newfoundland, and is on the way to get another. My sister and I were always close when we were young, but life took us in different directions, and for some years we couldn’t be close. We are close again and that is a gift of this winter. It is not always easy, but it is wonderful.
  I think of this as a winter of challenge, fear and rebirth. Most people I know are anxious, worried about work, money, security, many are redefining their lives in ways they see as challenging, positive, affirming, but also healthy. It’s an odd time because almost everyone I know is very anxious, but also more hopeful than I can remember them being. I have not experienced a more difficult winter, from snow and ice to changes and fears. I have not experienced a better winter, from growth and love to friendship and fulfillment.
  I went to dinner at Mary Kellogg’s Saturday and we had a wonderful evening, laughing talking and there was among us a sense that we are going through a trying time, but a healthy time, one in which we will all emerge in better ways. We are all thinking about our lives, the way we live, the ways in which we want to live. This is as exciting as it is disturbing. I think this will become more apparent in the Spring, which will be powerful this year, given this continuously exhausting winter. Rebirth is in the air, for me, pehaps for you. As always, Rose has been her with me, working, working, helping hold the farm together. And as always, people too. Dogs are at their best when they lead us to people, I think.