Chorin'

Most of the time I love doing chores. They are the bookends of my day. Milking in the morning and feeding all the sheep, goats, llamas, rabbits, chickens and horses wakes me up and gets me moving. It starts my day with good critter energy.
Doing it all again in the evening is a great way to wrap up the day, tucking everyone into bed and winding down.
It keeps me moving, gives me a routine and only takes about an hour in the morning and an hour at night. For that I get milk, eggs, lots of wonderful fluffy fibers to play with and happy animals to share my life. Well worth it.
But sometimes, especially in the winter, when morning comes late and night happens early, chores become wearying. I have to push myself to go milk. I try to get someone to come help me move the sheep. It just seems endless.
I was talking to a friend last week. Their cow is dry and they were trying to decide whether or not to keep her. They've been milking since 1981. Maybe it's time to take a break, they questioned.
They have a year on me - I've been milking since 1982. I have taken a few breaks, sometimes just a couple weeks off when all the goats are dry at once, other times a few months between goats. But every time, when I get my wonderful, fresh squeezed goat juice back, I swear that I will always have my goats to milk.
And so the chores go on.
In the dark of the winter, I remind myself why I like the bookends of critter time on either end of my day. And I also keep an eye on the calendar. Only 3 more days to the Solstice and more light in my day. The wheel of the year turns and spring will come again.
Happy Yule, ya'll!