It's 11:15 AM and I'm still groggy and tired. being a night owl with an early bird baby just doesn't work out well sometimes. :yawn: I finished The Disposessed. The author had a lot of interesting observations to make, and I could strongly relate to the leading character, to his sense of isolation and loneliness. He lives on a moon (Anarres) which has an anarchist society. The planet (Urras) from which the settlers of the moon came, is capitalist- propertarian. Life on Anarres if difficult, but life and work is meaningful, and the inhabitants have the priceless luxury of being able to do whatever work they enjoy doing wihtout having to be concerned over it's finanacial value or status. Life on urras is pretty similar to that of the U.S., characterized by extravangance, waste, and wide differences in status and standards of living. The women of Anarres are equals to the men, in the truest sense. They work just as hard, and are not granted special treatment or deference as the 'weaker sex', excpet that they are provided with extra meal rations when pregnant or lactating. There is no marriage and there are no sexual rstrictions or stigmas, provided that all interactions are consensual. If two people prefer on another, they form a partnership, which may last a few months or a lifetime. It's a different story on Urras; women are regarded as property- objects- and are treated as such. The ones that are owned (they're called wives), are ornately dressed in totally impractical clothing- imposssibly high heels, gauzy fabric, and their dresses have no bodice, exposing the breasts and displaying them as the man's trophies. In contrast to the women of Anarres, who wear the same practical, utilitarian garments as the men. Urrasti women are powdered, pampered, very poised, retiring and superficial. The authors point is unmistakeable.

Day to day life here on the farm: we now have a house goat. Mayflower had triplets, and since she has the CAE virus, I took the doeling at birth and am bottle feeding it. I put her in the pen with the junior herd sire, but this didn't work out well. At about 6 weeks old, he towers over her, and while he is gentle enough, he kept trying to mount her- which was funny since she had plenty of standing room under him! She's tiny enough to creep out from the pen and follow us up to the house, and so she now stays right by the front door. It would be irritating if there were several kids, but she's quiet and unobtrusive. In keepign with the flower theme, her name is Syringa. The two oldest boys, ages 8 and 10, have learned to swim, an incredible relief since we have a lrge pond and they'e always on the dock fishing or in the water, splashing. And now, I think it's about time for me to milk those goats.