For all celebrating the resurrection of Jesus today, here is one of my favorite hymns. My grandmother told me once that when she was babysitting a 3-year-old Alison on Easter in Pennsylvania many years ago, she caught me sitting very close to the TV, intently watching a program that seemed intense for a child. She said, “Alison what are you watching?” Apparently I was watching an Easter history special. I turned to her with equal intensity and replied, “What’s the matter Granny? Haven’t you ever heard of the resurrection of Jesus Christ?!”
“I fear no foe, with Thee at hand to bless
Ills have no weight, and tears no bitterness
Where is death's sting?
Where, grave, thy victory?
I triumph still, if Thou abide with me.”
—“Abide With Me” by Henry Francis Lyte
Operation “Arctic Florida” went well until the second day when the chickens started eating their own coop insulation. Since we are trying to keep our animal feed as natural as possible, polystyrene is not on the menu. So we had to rip down in the insulation. Thankfully, it’s getting back into the 70s right now, though it will be cold later in the week again. Chickens are just gonna have to freeze this time. You picked your poison, birds.
The morning after our coldest night in Florida was filled with bashing ice out of water buckets. When we lived in Washington state, we had bucket warmers, but we have never needed them here in Florida. Moving the chicken coop with all the insulation was a challenge. Milking the goats with frozen fingers was no fun but at least I wasn’t the goat having my teats grabbed by frozen fingers. Otherwise, it was just another crazy day on the farm!
We survived our coldest night ever in Florida since moving here in May 2023. It got down to 24 but the “feels like” was 16. Florida infrastructure is not built with such cold in mind, and we don’t have appliances like water bucket heaters on our farm because we never need them. It was a great reminder why farming sounds so idyllic until it gets really cold. I am glad we don’t deal with this every day for 6 months like our friends who live near our old home in Washington state. Kudos to the farmers who brave far tougher conditions than this all winter to keep food on our tables.
