My trip to Ithaca

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This fall I attended a Thanksgiving banquet at a cooperative house where I had lived in Ithaca. On the way I had to pick up my friend Richard from the Syracuse airport. This is our yearly get together and we try to be good influences on the youngsters that now inhabit the old house.

On our way south we ran into some trouble with my new to me Honda Civic (only 17 years old and no rust). We suspected the fuel filter and left the highway and coasted 5 miles to the nearest gas station. With a full tank it ran like a top again. Neither of us trusted the situation and we stopped at an auto parts store and picked up a new fuel filter. We had no tools aside from a pocket knife.

We were in Cortland and having been to Northland Sheep Dairy a few times I knew that Don would have a wrench or two. On the way to Don and Maryrose’s farm I spied a Farm Bureau Bill Board perched on a flatbed wagon out front of a horse farm. The photo of it is below. I had to stop, turn around and take a picture to post on DAP. I know that it was meant to be serious, but I love that to people like us it could be read two ways. Either that horse power was our past and tractors are the future, or that tractors will be our past and animal power is the sustainable future. I favor the latter knowing full well that real horse power will not be in every farmers future, but it will be in mine, though I may start with a pair of calves first.

The rest of the story is worth summarizing. We made it up to Don’s, but he was working. We had a great time visiting with Maryrose and used a couple tools to attempt to get the filter off, but with no success. The highlight of the visit besides seeing Maryrose’s smiling face (we used to work together at the Cornell stables) was watching their dog get harnessed up and deliver a bale of hay and a bucket of water to the young stock using a small wooden sled. He is quite the handy guy and a pleasure to watch. We made it to Ithaca just fine and I made it home too without installing the new filter. I bought some of Don and Maryrose’s cheese at the farmer’s market and a fleece. What great products, sadly I just finished the cheese, but the fleece works as a great pad on my cheap rent futon bed, it makes a huge difference in the quality of my sleep. Thank you Northland Dairy.

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