Happy Constitution Day!

Phil returned from Colorado, so the two of us moved the goats. It is getting easier each time. The first time they escaped and Phil rounded them up and carried them back. The second time, Phil created this elaborate system where he gradually moved the fencing to create a pathway for the goats to move. It worked well, but it took a LONG time (because the fencing catches on everything), and it is totally impractical for me to do on my own. This time, we used a borrowed lead rope, which is just a rope with a catch on one end, so I can make a loop for the animals’ heads. Using grain to lure the goats, I caught them and gradually led them to their new pen. It didn’t take long at all, and the goats were never out of control.

And I think, when they first reached their pen, that I may have witnessed Annabelle’s impregnation. Buddy fell off flat onto his back after the deed was done. Just in case that wasn’t actually it, though, I think I’ll keep Buddy around for another day or two before bringing him back to the Bessettes.

We spent another long day in the car after that: drive to Scottsville to notarize the easement that we grant to the electrical company; drive to James Madison’s home, which is a couple of counties away; drive to UVA in hopes of hearing celebrity farmer Joel Salatin deliver an address (I was five minutes late getting to UVA, but then couldn’t find the building. When I was 15 minutes late for an hour address and totally confused about where I was, I gave up); drive to the Tractor Supply Company to buy tarps to cover our hay (they had none that were large enough); drive back to Esmont to the post office; drive to the Zach Bush’s for internet and dinner; drive to the Doug Bush’s for Bible study; drive home.

There were times when I had to suppress a scream, the car made me feel so claustrophobic.

James Madison’s home at Montpelier was free today because it is Constitution Day, and Madison is the “Father of the Constitution.” He and Jefferson were, apparently, good friends and collaborators for forty years, and we got to see the room of the house where he thought through why other forms of government didn’t work, and what changes he would make.

As a person, I was not terribly impressed. Madison died without providing well for his wife Dolly, who was, apparently, a good wife to him. She lived thirteen years after he did, and had to sell their palatial estate due to “dire financial circumstances.” Lived a bit beyond his means, perhaps, did Madison.

And as a destination, I was not terribly impressed. The DuPont family bought the house and enlarged it (transformed it, really). Then donated it back to Virginia (maybe?). The Historical Society has spent almost a decade, and $24million virtually gutting the house so in form it looks again like it did when Madison lived there. But there is no furniture in the home, no decorations on the walls. The paint they restored using microscopes and chromometers (or whatever the word is that matches paint chips), but I find it hard to get excited over historically accurate paint colors. I suppose I wouldn’t make a good curator.

Dinner at the Bush’s and then Bible study made up for the less than great time that had gone before. We studied in Luke 9, how Jesus feeds the 5000. Besides the Resurrection, apparently, this is the only parable that is recorded in all four gospels, and it’s never been my favorite. Actually, I hated it: the twelve exhausted (from ministry), grieving (from John the Baptist’s death), hungry (because the crowds were pressing so they couldn’t eat) disciples were trying to get some rest. The crowds follow them, and then they are supposed to serve them again. I really resonated with how tired they must be.

But what I was overlooking was how brightly Jesus shines in this parable. He takes the little the disciples have to offer and multiplies it and gives it to them to minister. JESUS is the actor.

As we signed the listing contract with our new agent, for another lower price, now $90K less than our initial asking price (which, clearly, was ridiculously too high, but at the time, we thought it was a fair price), it was a good reminder. If I thought it would be a challenge to start a farm with what I expected to get, it seems downright ludicrous to start a farm with what we will, eventually, end up with.

But let me not forget JESUS, who, I believe called us.

At the Zach Bush’s, I had a chance to review some of my earlier posts. I remember now how desperate I was at the end of August for a financial breakthrough. At the time, I prayed, “Lord, you either need to sell our house, or I need a distant relative to have already died and unexpectedly left me a large sum of money that will suddenly appear.”

Without going into detail, the latter was almost how God provided for our needs this month.