Dear Family and Friends,

Yesterday we drove in the rumbly black Silverado to Nashville for Thanksgiving dinner with friends Sylvia and Chand Desai and their son Miro. They are "founding members" of the Hill and Hollow CSA, having been shareholders for the past nine years. Sylvia introduced the farm to the Linden Corner Waldorf School, bringing her third grade class for overnight visits to enrich their basic curriculum theme: food, clothing, shelter. Since then the farm has established an ongoing relationship with the school's third graders and their teachers. Many parents and faculty have been shareholders as well.

Sylvia issued the invitation to our family early in the Fall. Their eldest daughter Anya is currently living in a small village near Dharmsala, India, part of a two-year volunteer work program. (When we arrived yesterday Sylvia was telling us how relieved they were to have spoken to Anya. Her last e-mail to them had been from a visit to Mumbai, now site of the terrible carnage of terrorist attacks. She is now safely back in her village). Their daughter Danika is beginning her freshman year at UC Santa Cruz and so she also would not be home for the holiday. Knowing they would be feeling a little blue without their daughters, Sylvia and Chand very generously included any visitors we might have in their invitation to us. As it turns out, we also were anticipating a lonely time. Last Thanksgiving after excruciating trips from Boston and California our family decided that the expense and the hassle had begun to outweigh the benefits of such a short time here. Made perfect sense. So what a godsend to have her invitation early on so we could look forward to being with such good friends.

It was a lovely day, sunny and relatively warm. We took our time on the drive to Nashville going the back way, just to enjoy the rural countryside, connecting with I-65 only near Nashville itself. We started with hearty coffee and conversation as Chand prepared one of our turkeys and Sylvia made her special crust for a pumpkin pie. Miro and Sasha were put on alert for later preparation of the potatoes we had brought. Then out to the yard for a tree trimming project.

As that was getting going I took a long walk around their neighborhood, lovely tree-lined streets with comfortable bungalow style houses intermixed with a few much larger homes. It put me in mind of Mary Anne's neighborhood when she lived in Washington DC. It was warm enough that some families were waiting on their porches for Thanksgiving guests to arrive. I saw some of them, women carefully carrying covered dishes from curb to porch steps as men unpacked vehicles and kids ran ahead.

When I got back to our host's, the trimming was well underway. Several branches were removed with our limb saw from trees in the front. Then we all moved to the back yard. Here Paul determined that the chain saw was required. With it Sylvia helped dispatch a clump of raggedy rose-of-sharon. Paul and Chand then took on a hackberry tree growing against the outside of their fence. Meanwhile on the ground Sasha was busy sawing small branches off larger downed limbs. My job was hauling the "trash" limbs to the fence then tossing them over. From there they were to be collected by Sylvia and Robin for later removal. They were also collecting and stacking logs suitable for burning. Finally Paul came inside the fence to cut up the trimmed limbs. Sylvia and Robin stacked them, and we were ready to go inside and begin final preparations for what turned out to be a very satisfying Thanksgiving feast. I ate so much turkey, stuffing and mashed potatoes with gravy that I had no room at all even to sample the pie.

We were able to be gone all day from the farm with no real worries about the animals. They are in winter modenow, eating hay. Blue Bell and Addie are secure in the upper pasture. Our flock of sheep, reduced by 12 rams that went to processing a week ago, are in electro-net behind the A-frame. Earl is in the lower pasture. He used to stand directly across from my bedroom window at 6am and bray as loud as he could. What an ungodly sound. With the retreating time of sunrise and keeping the shades closed I am now able to get a cup of tea before I toss him his morning ration around 7 or even 7:30.

The grand finale project for our long-term interns Daniel and Johanna (who left last Saturday) has left us with the framing of the high tunnel complete. Now when I look toward the A-frame I see the 17 silvery, arched, trusses that will support the plastic roofing. Looks like home-made landscape sculpture.

The other big winter change is the decision of the farm family to sleep in the A-frame. Until now they've spent winter days there then gone back to the "old" place to sleep. Now in the mornings I look over to check the stove pipe for the white smoke that arises when Paul or Sasha is stoking up the fire for the day. Our winter rest has begun. Love, Louise