Sisterhood

When I started blogging, I never dreamed that I might one day use the word "sisterhood" to title a post, but it has been one of the most unexpected and joyful parts of this cyberworld experience.

A while back, I was tapped for a blog award by a cyber twin of mine - Michelle.  She was recognizing the amazing similarities and fun parallels of our two lives, and I have been thinking about the significance of her award for some time now.

It is so easy to get caught up in your own little world and believe that your circumstances are uniquely your own, and nobody else could possible share your worries, your dreams, your ideas, or your thoughts.  Michelle rocked me out of that bubble in a most delightful way, and I have thoroughly enjoyed finding out how similar our personalities and lives can be, while still being very different - she on the West Coast, I on the East. I think she has a faith much deeper than mine, so where I might be labeled the skeptic, she is the believer.  But from this relationship, I am constantly learning.  And it is that aspect of it that I think I like the best.

Blogging has taught me endless skills, viewpoints, factoids, perspectives and launched a thousand ideas.  It has also deepened and fortified relationships that I might otherwise have let go.  Last week, Karin, had a blog contest and I actually won! (That was VERY surprising to me, as I never win anything...)  But more importantly, she is a wonderful person that I might otherwise have lost the opportunity to know.  I met her through her yarn shop, but my life has changed so much in the last two years that even if it were still open today, I would almost surely never be able to visit - as Albany fades further and further from my sphere of travel.  She is very talented, and wonderfully passionate about all kind of important things (which of course, includes knitting) but she is not a farmer.  And doesn't need to be - but our interests still mesh.

( I won this - how cool is that?  BTW - the red yarn is the exact color I have been searching for to match a gifted piece of jewelry, it must be fate...)

And even in my ever-shrinking circle of contacts these day, I have found sisterhood in the neighborhood.  Two women whom I met through the Farmer's Market have become welcome "partners in crime" and they seem to be able to inspire me or enable almost all of my addictions.  Can you believe they dragged me off to a poultry swap and made me walk away with yet another chick? 

 

The telltale eye ring, green-grey feet, and patterned feathers gave this little peeper away as an Ameracauna.  The moth-eaten, scraggly look gave it away as a face only a mother could love.  In stepped Madison, lover of all things chicken, and viola!  it lives with us.  How could I say "no" when green eggs are one of our best sellers?

Yeah...it was purely a business decision.