Merry Christmas 2

From all of us here at Wandering Moose Farm, we wish you a very Merry Christmas. May this season find all of you blessed with all the love, happiness, and joy that you could wish for. Blessed be.

Merry Christmas

Christmas is almost upon us. We will be taking a little break in Oregon. A few days with family and a few days away from the farm. As much as I love the daily chores, it is nice to get a break from milking the goats in the cold and dark.

Little Russell is growing like a weed. He is becoming more and more alert and socially present. What a blessing in our lives. Life is an amazing thing.

We'll be trying to do $100 Christmas this year. The general concept is to opt out of the consumerism of Christmas by only spending $100 during the season. We will not be going to Disneyland. We will not be spending $500 at Macy's...or Walmart...or anywhere else for that matter. We will be giving homemade gifts or inexpensive books. We will be giving our children a small gift and a coupon book filled with coupons for "one free back rub" or "one free day off of homeschool."

Now, of course, the gasoline to Oregon to visit family will be about $100 so we will break the hundred dollar mark by a little bit, but the spirit is there. And that is really the key isn't it. To approach the holidays with a consciously spiritual attitude. Christmas is NOT YOUR BIRTHDAY. Gifts occupy an intentionally small part of our celebration. We are trying to focus more on Love, and Service, and Family, and Worship.

As a result, we are not dreading the Christmas season as something to "get though". We are not worrying about paying off the Visa bill or giving gifts that are more extravagant than what the neighbor's kids are getting. We are not worried about surviving holiday office parties. We are not fighting the crowds at the stores. We are simply spending some time together as a family.

I hope this season finds you well. Blessed be.

The Kingdom of God

“The Kingdom of God is within/among you” Luke 17:21

“Jesus himself goes into silence, into nature, and usually alone when he prays” Richard Rohr

I’ve been going into our field to sit in the goose blind lately. Usually alone. Funny thing, it is too early in the year for the geese to be flying over the Palouse with any regularity. That doesn’t seem to matter much. I just like to sit in a frozen field alone and watch the sun rise. Sitting with a shotgun on my lap just seems like a good excuse to be out there. I wake up at four or five and start getting the animal chores done. The sun doesn’t really rise until 6:45 am.

The sun rising on these cold December mornings is glorious. It is still and quiet. And I try to be still and quiet too. Both externally and internally. “Be still and know that I am God.” When I’m in a good place spiritually, I can sometimes get there. Sometimes I can let the clutter in my mind slowly pass leaving me at peace and alone with my God.

I wanted to go steelhead fishing alone today. Turns out the section of river I was thinking of is partially iced over. That’s OK. I have a ton of chores to do today. We are getting a ton (literally, 2000 pounds) of alfalfa delivered on Saturday morning.

I will be applying for a “small herd exemption” to sell raw milk here in Idaho soon. We don’t really have enough does in milk to make it worth the trouble…yet. We plan to get a diary cow in the spring. We also will be breeding Carissima soon. We will be hoping for a couple of doelings when she gives birth. We already have more milk than we need, but any additions to the herd will put us way over the top. It could be a nice addition to our tight finances. On the other hand it could be another farm fiasco too. Never know until you try. That’s one of the things I love about our approach to life on the farm here. Leap before you look. Half the time it doesn’t work out the way we had planned. But on the other hand, we are having a great time trying and learning along the way. We may never get it right within this lifetime but that is not the point. The kingdom of God is here and now among us. We are indeed blessed.

Yours in faith, Russ

Thanksgiving

We hosted our "Orphans Thanksgiving" Sunday. We invite friends and acquaintances who do not have family in the area over for a Thanksgiving feast. I enjoy being able to cook for and serve others a big meal.

We are having family over on Thursday for another Thanksgiving feast. We butchered the turkey this morning. It was a job for the whole family. Tim held the legs, Jenny held the head, and I was in charge of the hatchet. We eventually got the job done and ended up with a very, very large bird. I hope he is not too large. We'll see how he tastes on Thursday.

I use a 1st edition "Joy of Cooking" for many of my holiday dishes. One wonderful trick I've learned is to drape the turkey in cheesecloth soaked in melted lard while you roast it. It works great and gives the bird an amazing golden skin.

We have so much to be grateful for this season. Being able to host friends and family. Being able to raise our own food on the farm. Having everyone in the family safe and healthy.

Craig Mountain

The Craig Mountain area is a roadless, non-motorized area in which I elk hunt. I prefer to hunt using my own two legs. Or the four legs of a horse if necessary. It is wonderful to hunt in an area which prohibits motorized access.

This canyon stretches down about 4000 feet to the Snake River.

In the wilderness, I find Nature's Cathedral. In the mountains I feel closest to God.

"In God's wildness lies the hope of the world - the great fresh, unblighted, unredeemed wilderness." John Muir

It was a blessing to have the time to get out into the mountains. It is even more of a blessing to come home to my wife, my children, and my farm.

elk hunting

I just got back into town after 3 days in the mountains elk hunting alone. I stayed in my little pup tent and managed to stay reasonably warm. The last night there was a little bit of a blizzard. I was more afraid that a tree would fall on me than I was of freezing. I saw one elk, 6 mule deer, 4 grouse, and some wolf tracks. I had a great time. I didn't manage to shoot an elk, but it was amazing to just hike around in the mountains with my senses in hunting mode. Hyper-aware of all the sights and sounds around me.

I spent plenty of time sitting in front of the camp fire writing in my journal, meditating, and praying.

It was great to push my body a little bit. See what I could do in the mountains. I've had a knee injury bothering me all fall, so I was a little unsure of how I'd do. I hiked about 8 miles on the first day and 3 or 4 miles the next couple of days.

To me, my time spent hunting is incredibly spiritual. Time spent in the mountains is incredibly spiritual. Especially when I am alone. But I am never really alone.

In the words of the psalmist,
"I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.
My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth."

In the mountains, in the stillness, I hear whispers. Underneath the rocks there are words. When I am still I can hear them. And I know that God is there.

I am so blessed. Blessings to you too.

Too much fun...

Duck hunting the other day was wild. It was about 32 degrees with rain, sleet, and snow. I got to the lake before dawn and launched my little boat in the dark. There used to be beacon lights marking the boating channel in the shallow lake, but turned out they were mostly gone. I should have waited for first light, but decided to try to get to my hunting spot anyway. What a long, dark, scary ride that was. I pretty much felt my way across the lake, but finally made it to my spot an hour later. I got the decoys out and set up a little blind.

At first light, nothing was flying. Usually if there are going to be birds you can tell in the first 15 minutes after shooting light but not this time. The birds showed up a half an hour later and they showed up by the thousands. There were almost no mallards and only a few geese but thousands of teal. Teal are small and fast, but great eating and fun shooting. What a morning. I only got a few and should have gotten a few more, but it was a great morning.

Tomorrow I am going back to the lake hunting with Tim. I’m either going to buy a high powered spotlight, or I am going to have to wait until after it gets light to get on the lake. Either way, it promises to be a great morning.

On Tuesday, I am going to a conference to see Temple Grandin speak on Autism. I’ve had my registration for almost a year. She is an amazing woman with severe autism who not only succeeded in coping with her disability but got a Ph.D. to boot. She designed the modern cattle slaughtering techniques used all over the United States. It should be an amazing talk.

Then on Wednesday I’m packing and heading out to elk camp. Phew. A lot of fun stuff this week. I still don’t know how my knee is going to do, but I sure plan on trying to hunt. If not, I guess I’ll have a nice little camping trip in the snow in the mountains.

It’s sometimes tiring to be crazy busy, but at least it’s all really fun stuff. I am so blessed.