The Kids of Coon Hollow

The Dawn of a New Season

"To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant and a time to pluck up that which is planted.
A time to weep, and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance;
A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and time to cast away;
A time to keep silence, and a time to speak;

A time to love and a time to hate; a time of war and a time of peace.

I know that, whatsoever God does, it shall be forever.

Nothing can be put to it, nor anything taken from it:
And God does it, that men should fear before him."
Ecclesiastes 3:1,2,4,6,7,8,14

The Coon Hollow Kidding Season

The time of travail on the farm is always the most intense labor of the year. A close vigil, little sleep, and motivated by the hope to save every little life. I like to be at each delivery to make sure the birth goes as smoothly as possible. In our cold climate it is of great consequence that the kids are dried immediately and ingest some colostrum as soon as possible. Truly, a time to be born and a time to die are so closely tied. A time to laugh and dance, and a time to mourn. The same barn can be a place of great joy or harsh grief. It is hard to get through a season of kidding without one loss. But for all the precious little kids that cuddle lovingly with their moms....it is the greatest time of the year. I embrace those little kids so full of promise and say, "I'm in love again." They are the fruit of many years of labor and the pursuit of my ideals being realized. I look at them and say......"you, light up my life!"