It’s a good day to write. Louisville has rain coming in for hours as an aftermath of Hurricane Helene’s fierce presence in Florida. I have been praying for the Floridians, all beings really. It amazes me how resilient so many beings are after tremendous flooding and strong winds.

On a lighter note, I walked down to my farming neighbors yesterday. Reddogg and I both needed a good dose of kid time. There are six children in this family, ages twelve to one year young. The electric gate was closed to their driveway so I stood there a few moments trying to figure out the best way to pass through. The gate is two long horizontal poles with vertical cables hanging three feet down. Rarely are these gates closed and as a result I have a hard time remembering which pole I can touch. “O) I think it’s the green one, not the tan one.

But never mind! Because here comes little Millie, five years young and scoots under the cables with a big smile on her face, so happy to see me. She had heard her brother Isaac’s two pet turkeys which reside in a fenced area, and they were setting off the alarm that a stranger was on the property. Me! It was more of a screeching call, not a gobble, loud and high pitched. Noah, the oldest son, came down the long gravel driveway to my left on his four wheeler. I am sure he heard the turkeys. He pulls to a stop and says, “What’s up, Joan?”

“Just coming to say hi, Noah.”

He jumps off the four wheeler and opens the gate and Reddogg and I walk on up the driveway to the house. The mom, Lindsey, walks out of the barn to greet me, and then here comes Evie, Isaac and Silas. The baby girl, Chloe is inside taking nap. The whole family went to Gatlinburg, Tennessee last week while I was in Boston and I wanted to hear about the trip. Lindsey home schools the four oldest children so they are on a different schedule than children that attend the local schools.

Before I can even ask about their vacation, Silas, the three year old, grabs my hand and says “Come see the bear paws on the van.” He pulls me around the side of the house and everyone else follows.

“You had a bear get in your van?” I asked. Silas quickly shakes his head side to side, his soft, brown hair fluttering in the breeze.

Then Lindsey explained one morning a bear had wandered into the hotel area, even walked into the hotel lobby right through the automatic doors! The night before he had scoped out all the vehicles, evidenced by his paws prints clearly visible on the vehicles. And sure enough, there were bear paw prints on their van. Silas was quite proud of them. Lindsey told me the hotel management had to call the police. After the police shot rubber bullets at the bear he quickly moved on… into the parking garage as you can see in the picture above, and then back out and on down the road.

“I like the bear,” Silas said.

This little guy has a true love for animals. I wonder if one day he may choose to be a veterinarian. He let go of my hand and let himself in the back door and I wondered where he was going. Isaac followed him and then came back out and told Lindsey that Silas was looking for doggie treats to give Reddogg. Unfortunately for Reddogg all the doggie treats were gone.

Silas comes out and walks right up to Reddogg, his beautiful brown eyes meeting Red’s brown eyes. Red looks right back at him, his pink tongue hanging out the side of his mouth, his tail wagging, expecting, waiting. Silas has given him treats before.

“Sorry, Reddogg,” he says, showing him both his hands. “All gone. Want some water?”

I assured Silas that Reddogg had a good breakfast and that as soon as we walk back home he will drink some water. Silas grabs my hand again and smiles at me. He wants to show me Speckles, their pet cow. He is very excited as she will be “having a baby cow” in another month.

I make a mental note, because of course I want to see the baby cow. So sweet! I’m a lucky girl, “down on the farm” as my dear friend Lenton used to say. You never know what or who is going to happen next!

c   Love, Joan