A New Day

It is the 9th year of the new century. My day starts like any other; I rise to a cold room and wrap my feet before I touch the cold wood floor. Once I have acquired my foot ware I make my way to the wood heater and try to rouse the coals so the new fire for the day starts easier. With a fire now things seem brighter and the morning less challenging. My husband has been dead now for….has it been that long. Ten years; I wish I could say it went by fast, but it did not. When you’re a fifty something woman in the wilderness life is not easy. Now to brave the cold morning air as I walk to the coop. The hens this morning have been generous with their eggs all except you Maggie (I like to name them). As I wring her neck I whisper a word of thanks for the meal she will provide tonight. The eggs I will trade in town later in the week, trade for some salt and flour. I clean the hen that lost the egg lottery and toss the head, guts and feathers over the fence for the varmints to fight over.

Now to the root cellar for some of my can goods I put up last summer. If you want to eat you must plan. Preserving what you grow is one way and making sure the live stock survives the cold with you is another. Winters are hard on a farm. But spring is here now and it will get easier for a time. This one last cold spell may be a little hard on the seedlings, but it did not get as cold as it could have. Winter does not want to give up its cold grasp. This will be the last of the plums I put up, think I’ll make some biscuits to eat with them along with some eggs (Lord knows I got plenty).

I don’t mind the work on this small farm. My husband and I made it just the right size for the two of us. It provided our needs for all those years together. My (use to be our) only regret is we never had children to share it with. But we were not the only ones; it is just part of life now. So I go on and make the best of it as I name the livestock and live my life alone. But I have my memories. I came from a large family. But Part of growing older is you watch as each one leaves you as time does its dance. After all these years though I can still see their faces. Each one handle the new struggle that came as a result of the……well…lets just say some were stronger that others. I guess it is true what they say “the strong survive”. Many died as life change in our world. But let’s face it from what I was told and what little I remember, life was easier before, but maybe too easy. Easy makes you soft, unprepared and dependant on others. If you have to much you forget what it was like when you had nothing. I remember what nothing felt like so I prepare now for hard times. Maybe if they had done that……well what’s done is done.

The day has worn on and my thoughts have kept me company as I toiled in the ground to bring new life from it once again. I remember the first time I dug in the ground it was a game I use to play with my Great Grandfather; but it turned out not to be a game at all, but his way of warning us. This oil lamp I light, use to be a rarity before. I was young back then when the darkness fell. But that is just history now. We have to make the best of what’s left. I guess I’m an optimist. Maybe that is why my name is Hope!