I’m fortunate to live on my farm. Whenever I get bored, frustrated, frightened, or sad, I grab one of my cameras and set out on a circuit – I walk by Maria’s studio, I walk by the pasture gate, and I visit the donkeys and go out into the pasture Everywhere I look, I see something beautiful and exciting.

I check on the sheep; I look out at the landscape.

Today I scored on all levels, and I want to share the experience with you, as is my custom.

I haven’t taken a photo of an Amish horse cart or an Amish person for months. It was time to catch a coach.

And no,  (sorry, peckerheads and yentas), this doesn’t violate any agreement or understanding I have with my good friend and neighbor Moise, and we aren’t at odds.

 

Moise has never told me what pictures to take and never would. I wouldn’t like it if he did. But I know how the Amish feel about photography. I stopped taking photos of the Amish because I wanted to respect their faith and control my impulses. Horses on or around my property are fair game.

 

 

This afternoon, I saw something I’d never seen before, a donkey nuzzling a sheep (above). At first, I thought she was trying to get him out of the way, but then I saw it was a soft nuzzle. They touched noses. I don’t know what that means; it was sweet to see.

Robin was easy with it, and he never moved a muscle.

 

 

The sky and the clouds never stopped changing today; the sky was beautiful all day.

 

The Little King decides who can come on the farm and who can’t. He tried to run an Amish horse off the property once but thought better when the horse looked at him and sniffed in distaste.

He hasn’t gotten that close since.

Flo loves the wooden crate Maria set out for her as it gets colder; it is lined with fleece and is warm. It wasn’t mean today, but Flo has taken to it anyway. Tomorrow, she gets to listen to me practice my ukelele again; she loved it last time, perhaps because she is deaf.

I might do it again today when Maria heads off to her belly dancing class.

No matter how many times I looked up at the clouds, they were different.

 

It felt good, as always, to take these photos. I decided to call my insurance company and ask if they would insure my two Leica cameras. Maria says I will never lose these cameras, but anybody can lose something precious.

It would ease my mind. If I ever lost a Leica camera or had it stolen, I could never replace it.

Lulu was at her charming best and got a treat out of me as usual, and Maria looked wonderfully proud and creative, holding two of her new dryer balls in her hands. She’s making 50 or 60 and has already sold all of them.

While I was out, the sky turned angry, even in the soft mist (that was this morning).

I came back into my office just as the sun lit up the right-hand corner of the room. I love this image every time I see it, especially in the afternoon. My walk-around did the trick. I’m ready to work.

 

I was walking in the backyard, the kennel, it was a warm day, and the three dogs were out sunning themselves, Maria came out to yell at me for walking around too much on my foot, and I got a lovely portrait of Maria and the dogs in front of her studio. I love them all.

This is what I see out of the corner of my eye in the late afternoon when the sun comes out. I love the farm and give thanks for it every day. Running To The Mountain was one of my life’s best and great decisions.