Nature on a Rainy Day in Spring and Musings

This year's trillium in the rain going by.

Sheep in the hedgerow grazing on a rainy day.


There have been some very powerful photos over on Jon Katz' blog the past few weeks. He has been photographically documenting the last days of a NY State dairy farm owned by a farmer named Jon Clark. The photos are beautiful and very sad. My heart goes out to the farmer and the family who have decided they must give up farming.

The thing is with farmers - they will always be farmers whether they are farming or not. I can't imagine My Farmer without his sheep - he wouldn't be whole. But farming has become ridiculously expensive and difficult to do. Small farmers have to compete against large corporate dairies and for many, it is just too overwhelming a task. Many small dairy farmers are choosing or forced to give up because they can no longer afford to keep their dairies going. Here in Massachusetts we have lost many, many dairy farms. The loss of these businesses changes the landscape and the community of small towns. Every time I hear of a dairy farm closing my heart hurts - for the farmer, his family, the cows, the community, the other businesses who have been supplying them, and the world. The world needs more farmers, not less.

Why I knit will be later this week, I hope. Be patient.