December 13, 2008 – Sunny, cool. Izzy and I are going to Manchester, Vt. this afternoon to meet readers at the Northshire Bookstore from 2 to 4 p.m. Hoping to bring Mary Kellogg, the poet. Decision time this weekend about the farm. I am considering re-homing the goats and also moving the steers and cow off of the farm, a much more complicated decision. I want the farm to reflect, not ignore, the times, and I want it to be a simpler, more focused place for me to do my work as a writer and photogapher and human.
  As far as I am concerned, this doesn’t involve downsizing the farm, but giving birth to it again, as   a quiet and peaceful place that I can manage. I have often been impulsive in my life, as well as wasteful, and I am trying to correct that. It’s a big decision for me, and I have been encouraged and challenged and supported by some wonderful messages, as well as some not so nice messages. Good for the mind.