It was a bit of an awakening this year, and one filled with legitimate thanks. Last year’s spirit had a tinge of resentment to the enforced seclusion and mandate talk during the pandemic. Masks were still a big deal. The schools were in an uproar, and some of the response to the public health emergency […]

Waking up is a ritual we all share. We take it in different manners because we are individuals in a mass society. Splash is the duty iconoclast at Refuge Farm, and he was up before most of us. We think it is the effect of the winter chill being more palpable outdoors. But with the […]

There was controversy to start the day, and predictably it started on the other side of the bed. Which, having a certain rhyming imperative, Splash wanted to celebrate with the Mexican holiday, Día de Muertos. Of course, that doesn’t actually rhyme with our night-time resting place, unless you do it in English. As usual, he […]

Splash is not at his best on Saturday mornings, which is to say, when he is actually at his best it is better to just let him go where he is going, follow with mild interest, and let him blaze a path into the sort of reality he prefers. Some of us were up early. […]

We do not know if you are keeping track of the days. At Refuge Farm we are, mostly out of a sort of morbid curiosity about the biggest bill in the history of the United States Congress. It is supposed to be voted on this morning. A Friday. Rocket looked a little stunned. “If it […]