There’s no doubt that Robin and I share several unusual traits, and there is no doubt we are connected in several ways.

It started with an old family tradition I started years ago, which has survived for some reason: blowing paper straws at my children while we were eating at restaurants. I would start it, and they would retaliate to the disapproval and complaints of all the actual adults at the table.

Emma did this to Robin once, and Robin did it to me.

This was war, I got a fistful of paper-wrapped straws from the waitress (she has three kids,  she understood) and gave half of them to Robin, and we went to battle; bits of straw paper were flying all over the place.

At dinner tonight, I started it, and Robin, fearless and crafty, fired back, usually when I was unsuspecting. She crawled under the table to strike from an angle I couldn’t see.

I could see that Robin had that mad gleam in her eye that had always been described as part of me. We had an awful lot of fun together.

We had a blast until Maria and Emma said enough was enough, and we stopped.

But there is a connection between us; we all had a perfect time today, from apple picking to counting newts in our pond.  Watching her and Maria explore the farm together was one of the joys of my life.

I’m about to put up many photos that tell the story in pictures, not just words. Robin had many firsts, including letting chickens eat seeds out of her outstretched hand.

We did so many things today that I can’t recall all of them, and the big news is that Bedlam Farm worked its magic.  It was wonderful to have Emma here for a couple of days; they are returning in the morning.

Robin opened up to the animals, the woods, the animals, Maria, to me, and even some crystals she and Maria and Emma dug up on nearby “Crystal Hill,” where tiny crystals embedded in rocks often pop to the surface after a rain. Tonight, Robin look at the Space App that Emma got for her on her iPhone and told us exactly where the space station was.

She might end up being a scientist. My head was spinning tonight; I could only imagine what was going on in hers.

(A sack full of crystals, washed, cleaned, and heading to Brooklyn.)

It may be a long time before we see one another again, but I’m living in the new; it was an extraordinary day.

Below is the first shot in the straw wars: