So much has been accomplished this week that it feels like more than a week. My father-in-law got the goat stanchion done and Millie "volunteered" to get in- sort of like people stepping back in line and you are left looking like you stepped forward! I think we gave her so much distress getting into it that she may just go into labor now. The porch railing has been fixed, trim has been painted, yard work done, some gardening accomplished, cupboards washed out, ironing done...See how much better it would be in an intergenerational home? I have figured out that earlier in history people got things done because they lived closer together and didn't have to travel. If they needed help with a project, the others just came over and helped out. Now we write e-mails to people in order to talk to them and they may be hundreds of miles away. Today in my reading Nouwen was talking about not liking manual labor because it became boring. But the head abbot said the other monks like their work, because it gives them a common unity and allows their thoughts to turn to God. I will try to remember that.