Random thoughts on the 1st of September

We had three boys born on Tuesday and then one little female born yesterday afternoon. That’s kind of a microcosm of our 2011 male/female ratio. Is there some kind of booby prize if by the end of the season we have 40 white male crias on the ground? C’est la vie.

Our youngest son’s club soccer season has started again. Though we are proud of the fact that he has been promoted to the upper level of his age group, it now means that his games will be in a New England wide league as opposed to one based just in New Hampshire. Have USB modem, can travel. More.

Boy has it felt odd hearing Vermont discussed these past few days on the national news. I’m so used to our state being little more than an after-thought, or at the most a place people would occasionally come to visit and have fond memories of but certainly not the center of national attention. I think I speak for most everyone when I say that given a choice we’d prefer the obscurity minus the flooding any day.

Though we are still hoping to participate in the National Alpaca Farm Days it may be stretch to do so if we still have a Vermont DOT sign and blockade two miles from the bottom of our hill (where Rt. 131 west crosses under I-91) announcing that the road, 131, is closed due to flooding. The next 10 days or so should tell the story.

Four days after Irene our local hay suppliers were able to send two wagonloads our way today for the Main Barn (the Stud Barn had already been filled). I guess those fields must have really good drainage, huh?

Just four more days of summer vacation for our kids and then we hit the school/soccer grind full bore. Though they might claim otherwise, I think the boys are ready to go back.

We lost our beloved kitty, Jewel (aka my muse), on Saturday night during the storm. Though our cats have always had an incredibly high quality of life being able to come and go from home as they like and wander the mountainside, one of the downsides is that they are of course not the only things wandering the mountainside, particularly at night. That night on top of the usual hazards there was also the small matter of Irene coming through. We all miss Jewel horribly and there was some deep mourning on Monday as it hit everyone in the family that she was probably not coming back. I keep expecting her to saunter back into the house in the middle of the night or bop me on the nose for at 5:30AM (“Have you considered my breakfast?!”) but at this point it is against the odds. Rest in peace sweetie…

Is there anything in pro sports as good as Red Sox vs. Yankees? Even in May it feels like a playoff series. That intensity has only picked up here in September.

We got a decent look at our show animals today during herd health. Is there a Championship for dustiest male/female? If so, watch out! Good thing there are 6 more weeks to grow fleece between now and the first show.