We’ve enjoyed an extended period of socialization that may be, as yet, unprecedented. Dave and Anke left recently, after more than a month of visiting with them and their many friends, old and new, who rendezvoused with them here. My aunt and uncle made a brief appearance off a cruise ship, and the usual summer round of potlucks and casual visits have increased this season.
It’s been wonderful, but I can’t help my concern that the usual work of the “homestead” has suffered a bit as a result.
A lot of work did get done during the period. In fact, Dave and Anke helped considerably, foraging with us, and contributing significantly to the winter firewood collection by helping bring down a major tree (see A Tree Falls in the Forest) and buck up a good deal of it. As I write this, one cut remains to finish the bucking on that tree.
Still, the fishing suffered, the firewood effort has been neglected despite the advances we did make, and other projects got ignored while we visited and played.
A wooly mammoth Aly knitted roams the Zeiger Family Homestead Steppe briefly before being mailed to the client (Photo: Aly Zeiger)