“I don’t think it’s going to happen today, Madeleine.  I’m meeting a friend in town for lunch.”

            It was a bright day yesterday, the second of September, and I decided to spend a little time getting some sun, while I still could.  I had just started working on a new story for Country Folks – a profile of a sheep farm – so I took my voice recorder out with me.  I could wander around in the sunshine and go over the previous day’s interview at the same time.  How efficient!  It almost made me feel like I was working. 

            Just last night, our new exchange student from Croatia told me how he wanted to keep a raven – as a pet – once he got his own place someday.  Just a few hours before, I had read Paul Laurence Dunbar’s “Sympathy,” the poem that gave Maya Angelou the title for her autobiography: I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.  (http://www.americanpoems.com/poets/Paul-Laurence-Dunbar/15528)  Our exchange student loves ravens and loves Edgar Allen Poe.  I love ravens, too, and can understand Poe’s appeal.  Hoping our shared appreciations would give me passage into his belief structure, I ventured a question, “Do you think this kind of bird would be happy in a cage?”  “Oh, I would let it out three times a day,” he replied.

A quick clarification, yesterday's entry was written by Dave, not Barb.  We are sharing this blog, so sometimes you will get the witty Barb and other times the plodding Dave.  I've got to go to bed, it's after 9:00pm and morning is coming.  By the way, thanks for the positive no rain thoughts.  The hay got into the barn without getting soaked. 

From Farmer Dave: Got up early.  Yes, it’s true, most farmers get up early.  Although based on the traffic going by the house in the dark hours, lots of non-farmers are getting up early too.  Milked and fed the cows, fed the pigs, chickens, turkeys and sheep… no milking involved there.  Put the milk away, washed the milker and got the milk in the cooler.  No bottle washing today.  Let me tell you, want to score points with your farmer, return your bottles in a timely fashion.  Want to really score points, return them clean.  Yep, that really does it.  Nothing kills the joy of a morning like having to wash bottles.