Jim (NRCS) and Craig (Conservation District) are from the government, and they really are here to help us. We love these guys. They are literally (wait for it) outstanding in their field. Our field, actually.

Let’s just get this out of the way right off the bat: hovercows. There, I said it.

Remember that we’re just spitballing here, so you don’t want to shoot down an idea just because it sounds a little too far out of the box. Because if we do end up fencing off that slice of wetlands on the county side, we’re going to need to find some solution to allow livestock access to the brush pasture in the southwest corner. A separate easement? Reinforced corridor? Bridges? I’m just saying – drone technology is scaling faster than you can possibly imagine.

But I will admit that maybe I’m just letting myself get distracted from the more immediate concerns I should be focusing on. Like dealing with the permitting process for a well. Convincing the county that, even though the septic system under the Danger House is hilariously bad, we shouldn’t be forced to rip it out right away. Dealing with 40 acres of imminent-fire-hazard standing hay. Donald Trump. You know – you wouldn’t have to equip all the cows with air-lift technology, just the ones you wanted to get to that southwest pasture. It wouldn’t be as expensive as it sounds.

Anyhow. If you’ve been wondering why the blog’s been so quiet lately, the answer is pretty simple: the farm has been consuming my brain. Not like “BSE-style” consuming my brain, though learning all about ruminant parasites is not something anyone should mistake for bedtime reading. But I think the last time I was juggling this many different constraints and requirements was back when we launched Google Labs as a 20% project.

Which is not to say that I’m not having a blast. I am. I feel like I’m pulling an amazing team together on an amazing project that will have long-lasting benefits for my family and the Port Townsend community as a whole. It feels really good. It’s just kind of all-consuming.

Miranda and I are up this week. She hadn’t seen the farm before – in fact, we belatedly figured out that she hadn’t actually seen anything in the Pacific Northwest before, so we decided to do a father-daughter trip up to the farm and environs. We’ve been tromping around the farm, exploring town, and eating much more ice cream that is strictly necessary.

Port Townsend has blessed us with gorgeous weather for tromping around the back forty. And front 37. But what with it being M’s first time in the PNW, we took today off to head a little farther afield: Lake Crescent, the Barnes Creek Trail, and down to the beach at Salt Creek Marine Sanctuary. Lovely, lovely stuff.

Tomorrow I need to get back to working on farm stuff. Call the well driller guy back to let him know I’ve squared things away with the state, county and city. I think. Chase down the county’s noxious weed removal coordinator (It’s the weeds that are noxious – the coordinator is a wonderful, friendly guy). Coordinate brush hogging the remaining alfalfa pastures before things go too far to seed. See if I can save Grandma Swanson’s rose bed. Catalog the spots where our perimeter fence is down. And figure out something for the southwest corner that’s more practical than hovercows. Because it turns out that that domain name is already taken.