Not all black, not all white

© harrington

Thanks for visiting. Watch out for crazy weather. Lots of ice on Mille Lacs over the weekend, and now, on Tuesday, it's already 85°.  We weren't at Mille Lacs this Mother's Day. We did stop by the Shepherd's Harvest sheep and wool festival but you probably figured that out from the picture. It's become a fairly regular annual or biennial activity to see what the weavers and herders are up to. The question of adding sheep and/or goats has been an ongoing discussion in this house for more than a decade. Just about the time that common sense starts to prevail, something happens to push the needle in the other direction. I haven't told you yet that the yaks are back! One of our neighbors has a herd of about 6 or 8 yaks. They disappeared awhile ago, maybe late last summer. I though the neighbor had made his point with the assessor, that his property really was agricultural, and that was the end of it. Once again life has proven me wrong. Yaks are really on the bubble between interesting and semi-cute. For pure aesthetics, I prefer Highland cattle, but that's just me and yaks appear to be a more manageable size. The other livestock issue that has made life interesting is a recent discussion about whether a draft horse or two is really more sustainable (has a smaller carbon footprint) than the little tractor we've been using. In part, it may boil down to the frequency of delivery of feed for livestock compared to the gas consumption of the tractor and the number of trips to or by the vet for horses compared to trips to the mechanic for tractor service. The daughter's Significant Other has become entirely too adept at this systems analysis and debating stuff (sorry for the technical term) we've been exposing him to. I no longer get a pass on "ex cathedra" pronouncements I make. Being kept one one's toes is probably good for one but not always the most comfortable aging strategy available. (I'm afraid that made me sound like an aging ballerina. Sorry for any misdirection.) The temperature is now up to 87°. I'm going to walk the dogs before it gets any warmer. Enjoy today's weather. I have no doubt we could get snow by the weekend. Come again when you can. Rants, raves and reflections served daily in My Minnesota.