February 19th, 2022

Weather/Nature

A violent front came through Thursday the interrupted our very mild week. On Wednesday we were in T-shirts with highs approaching 70, and on Friday the high was 40. As winter gives way to spring, I think we’ll see the same swings we did in the fall. Prior to the rain on Thursday, it had been well over a week since we had gotten any rain, which is very unusual here this time of year.

Down On The Farm

With the lack of rain, the plowed garden got dried out very well, so I got the walk-behind tiller out of the barn to see if I could break up some clods around the orchard area. Went ok until the fuel line sprung a leak. I’ll be glad to have a friend till the larger area in the spring with his tractor.

Spent some time as a family considering merits of a tractor vs a team of mules. Not getting either this year, but we’ll eventually need something, and we might be crazy enough to try mules.

The only other thing we did on the farm this week was sink the wood posts for the two deer fence gates around the garden. Digging post holes is hard in this clay soil!

Best Thing We Ate

Erica came up with a bushel of apples that weren’t in the best shape for fresh eating, so she made apple sauce, apple crisp, etc, all of which were most delicious.

From Family Worship

We press on in the Confession, this week considering that Adam’s sin is imputed to all future generations, as root to branch. From this original corruption, we are made in the natural man to hate what God loves and love what God hates. What a mess. It reminds me of the line from Norman Maclean’s, “A River Runs Through It”…

As a Scot and a Presbyterian, my father believed that man by nature was a mess and had fallen from an original state of grace. Somehow, I early developed the notion that he had done this by falling from a tree. As for my father, I never knew whether he believed God was a mathematician but he certainly believed God could count and that only by picking up God’s rhythms were we able to regain power and beauty.

Other Happenings

Our dear friends, the Webster’s, came all the way from Florida to stay with us this weekend. It did us all good to have some familiar company.