The weather became very cold, the snow creaked, the ferry on the lake was still open, and thick steam rose from above every morning. In our cold house, the frost line in the basement is getting lower every day. We put thermal tape around the hose to keep the fire burning in the fireplace, but it was only warm in a surprisingly small area in front of it. The thermometer outside the house had been hovering below zero for a week. On the farm, the hens' combs are blackened by frost, and the so-called "frost-free" fire hydrants are frozen hard. We pilled water from the pump house, being careful not to get our hands wet. I learned the weight of water, a little more than eight pounds per gallon, forty pounds for a bucket, and eighty pounds for water to be full and balanced. Even though I was wearing thick gloves, the handle of the bucket dug deep into my palm, and my shoulders thickened and grew new muscles. The farm was sealed off because of the cold. It's been a few years since I've had a real winter, and no matter what I'm wearing, I can't feel warm.

My feet were numb with cold and my hands ached. Between milking and chores, we went back to our house in the town, took off our frozen clothes at the door, and hastily lit a fire in the fireplace. The bed was nowhere near as warm as the fireplace, and in the morning I would jump out from under the covers and run to the fireplace, clothes in my hands, shuddering at every step as I touched the cold floor. Mark read "East of Eden" to me at night before we fell asleep, under three blankets and thick hats and woolen socks. There's a lot of work to do indoors. We need to tap into local farmer networks, because while their independence is widely admired, farmers still need to connect and exchange labor, machinery, expertise, products and information. With the exception of his tools and tractors, Mark also left behind all the friendly networks he had built with neighboring farmers in Pennsylvania. This network is crucial when you need welding parts at harvest time, or when you run out of hay in late winter and need to buy it at a good price to get you through the winter. Like everything else, we're going back to the drawing board. Mark spent a lot of time on the phone, connecting with people and arranging meetings.

The weather became very cold, the snow creaked, the ferry on the lake was still open, and thick steam rose from above every morning. In our cold house, the frost line in the basement is getting lower every day. We put thermal tape around the hose to keep the fire burning in the fireplace, but it was only warm in a surprisingly small area in front of it. The thermometer outside the house had been hovering below zero for a week. On the farm, the hens' combs are blackened by frost, and the so-called "frost-free" fire hydrants are frozen hard. We pilled water from the pump house, being careful not to get our hands wet. I learned the weight of water, a little more than eight pounds per gallon, forty pounds for a bucket, and eighty pounds for water to be full and balanced. Even though I was wearing thick gloves, the handle of the bucket dug deep into my palm, and my shoulders thickened and grew new muscles. The farm was sealed off because of the cold. It's been a few years since I've had a real winter, and no matter what I'm wearing, I can't feel warm.

My feet were numb with cold and my hands ached. Between milking and chores, we went back to our house in the town, took off our frozen clothes at the door, and hastily lit a fire in the fireplace. The bed was nowhere near as warm as the fireplace, and in the morning I would jump out from under the covers and run to the fireplace, clothes in my hands, shuddering at every step as I touched the cold floor. Mark read "East of Eden" to me at night before we fell asleep, under three blankets and thick hats and woolen socks. There's a lot of work to do indoors. We need to tap into local farmer networks, because while their independence is widely admired, farmers still need to connect and exchange labor, machinery, expertise, products and information. With the exception of his tools and tractors, Mark also left behind all the friendly networks he had built with neighboring farmers in Pennsylvania. This network is crucial when you need welding parts at harvest time, or when you run out of hay in late winter and need to buy it at a good price to get you through the winter. Like everything else, we're going back to the drawing board. Mark spent a lot of time on the phone, connecting with people and arranging meetings.