Wow, it has been a whirlwind of a month at Whippoorwill Creek Farm. Not only is the weather changing quickly, but my book came out and yes, we bought a new buck (photos below!).
The book launch has been amazing. It started with a talk at Beaverdale Books in Des Moines, which was the first time I had to stand up and talk about the book. And while it would seem like after you wrote a book it would be easy to wax poetic on the topic, it is actually very difficult to distill what you wrote about in 250+ pages down to concise sound bites. And after so much time alone during the pandemic and writing a book (a lone act), it is also a bit surreal to be out in the world talking about my ideas with everyone, all the time.
Then, as people received books they had ordered, they began to send me photos - I loved them and asked for more. There were photos of all kinds: the book on a lobster trap in Maine, of someone reading it in the bathroom, of the book in the Colorado desert. There were photos of kids and elders, of dogs and cats (are they reading it as well?) and the book as breakfast musing.
Two notable Iowans are featured in photos: Chuck Offenberger, the "Iowa Boy," and Mike Carberry, former Johnson County Supervisor (who made a cool meme out of his book photo too!). Tweets by two well known and loved Berkeley professors, Martha Saavedra and Author Michael Pollan, also made my day.
There have been a few articles and interviews on the book (and there will be a webinar soon as well), which is also an interesting switch in my life. Suddenly I am supposed to be the one to supply answers instead of the one asking the questions.
I am humbled and grateful for all this attention, and honestly it is a bit weird to have so much positivity coming my way after two years of what felt like endless negative vibes floating around in the ether (Covid, George Floyd, the election nightmare, etc, etc). Thank you to everyone who has sent a photo (and I apologize if I left yours out - it was hard to keep track of the texts, emails and tweets with photos) or even your good thoughts - I appreciate it all more than you may know.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch...John has been keeping the farm running and has even made a few improvements. He rebuilt a fence near our house and put up a small pen for our newest farm member, Bucky the Buckling.
Bucky is a snazzy looking dude, with brown accents to his black coat. Thus far he seems to have a peaceful demeanor, although he is one loud "bro" (as our nephew Lucas would call him), bleating his lungs out in hopes of attracting one or all of the does who browse in a nearby paddock.
To give you his stats, he is one of triplets from Adam's (our local goat purveyor) biggest doe. She consistently has triplets and weans the kids at a total weight that equals her own, so the genetics are there for great goat breeding down the line.
We plan on letting him in with the ladies tomorrow, and then, well, he will do the deed with all 12 of them in quick succession - we are hoping all of the births come around the same time in late March. Goats are noted much like rabbits for their tremendous appetites in that direction, so fingers crossed with such a young guy - nature willing they will all have easy births and healthy kids galore in the spring.
Thanks for reading and have an enjoyable weekend.
~ Beth