Q&A, cont…

This is really personal, but it’s a question I grapple with: How did you make the decision not to have children?

I don’t know if this will help at all, because it never felt like a “decision” to me ~
I have never wanted to have kids. And my role models and saviors growing up were women without children and I saw how the labels so commonly applied to childfree women (selfish, unfulfilled) in NO way applied to them. I saw how much they contributed to the world around them and those ridiculous labels have never affected my psyche or made me question my choice.

Anyone else want to share their experience/decision in the comment section?

Round 2 of Qs

What would you be doing or would you like to be doing with your life if you weren’t doing this?
I’d be on a sailboat full time. But that can wait till I’m 60.

I found your post about your stalker so moving, and I am so thankful that you posted that. I respect you so much for being open about what happened so that others might learn from it. Now that it’s behind you, how have you moved on from it? Does any part of it still affect you?
Thank you! I’ve been able to integrate what I learned from it without being governed by it. It made me more solid, more well-rounded. I wouldn’t wish the experience on anyone but I wouldn’t erase it from my past, if that makes any sense.

Did you go up to the mountain this summer?
Just for one day. I had to stay down here this year for Star Brand Beef, a worthwhile sacrifice.

How do you manage caring for the animals outdoors during the cold, cold winters?
Wool, down, silk, duty, endurance.

What are your 15 favorite books? If that’s too difficult (I could never, ever answer that myself :), what are you reading these days?
I’m currently reading The Purity Myth by Jessica Valenti and A People’s History of the United States by Howard Zinn. Just some light fluff. I also have Wild by Cheryl Strayed checked out but haven’t started it yet. (Some of my favorite books are listed in the sidebar.)

Have you dabbled in canning your produce?
I haven’t done any canning…. I don’t have a stove, only a hotplate and the woodstove, which I have no desire to fire up in the summertime.

Do you miss anything about the Bay area?
I miss riding my Vespa in traffic ~ it was like being inside a video game.

How does Charlie get along with the cows?
They respect one another’s personal space.

As a successful blogger on the internet, why is it that you prefer to stay behind the scenes and not post pictures of yourself, Mike, etc. Obviously you prefer it’s not about you, it’s about the lifestyle, the animals etc. yet it is quite obvious that you are a very attractive young woman and with the type of reality media going on today you would probably be very successful with that. Have you had those offers and do you fear becoming too successful?
I’ve had a lot of offers ~ from Jay Leno to Animal Planet ~ but I’m unwilling to sacrifice the lifestyle of my animals. Charlie’s well-being has always been my priority and other people really stress him out. It’s just an automatic “no” for me. Even with the other animals, if there were camera crews around here, their environment would be altered. And my environment would be altered. As for posting photos of myself ~ I have always enjoyed using myself as a prop in more “fine art” work, example here, but just running around taking snapshots of myself is really boring to me.

If there were a movie about your life, who would you want to play you and Mike?
Should I tell this story? OK, I will. Back when the book first came out, I was approached by Hollywood for the movie rights. At the time, there were five actresses who could “greenlight” a movie (Julia Roberts, Sandra Bullock, Angelina Jolie, Reese Witherspoon, and Katherine Heigl), which means if they were signed on to a script, the movie would automatically get financed. The producer was buying the rights for Katherine Heigl. I said no, because I would have had to drop SO much acid to watch Katherine Heigl playing ME! Wrong, wrong! Can you picture her chopping wood?? They wanted Daniel Craig for Mike, which I can kind of see but…..??? The bigger question is who would play Charlie? This is the biggest hangup I have with a movie version of The Daily Coyote: based on my experience and those of others I’ve been in touch with who’ve raised coyotes, I can not fathom a coyote being OK on a movie set without being drugged. Maybe a coydog? A german shepherd in hair and make up? I think an animated version would be best, with Dabs Myla doing the artwork.

Is a Charlie movie in the works?
Uh, no.

Clearly you work hard to live a life of authenticity and integrity. Has some opportunity come your way that’s really, really tempted you? I can imagine that more than once you’ve been approached by someone/someones hoping you’d sell out (even just a little bit).
I was offered a HUGE sum of money to have someone’s baby. For realz. But all these things ~ this offer, the movie deal, the TV shows… while there was a lot of money involved, they weren’t really that tempting. Flattering, perhaps, but not tempting. Because while I’d be gaining money, I’d be losing things that are more important to me. Money brings freedom in some respects, but, in the wrong configuration, it takes freedom away. These were all the wrong configuration.
Not worth it.

SPEED ROUND!
Have you seen Charlie exhibit behaviors that wild coyotes do not exhibit?
cat worship

What is your favorite time of day?
dawn

Also, can we see more pictures of Flicka soon? She is totally gorgeous.
I will do this!

How far do you have to drive to go food shopping?
40 minute drive

Where is the Vespa now?
in Mike’s basement

Do you have central heating?
no

Are you on fb?
no

More to come…….

I’m doing this in installments!

OK, jaw-dropping response to my Q&A! Here’s installment #1 of answers, in no particular order. If I skipped yours, that does not mean I’m ignoring it, more to come…..

Shoes or barefoot?
When you pal around with beasts that weigh in well over 1000 pounds, it’s best you wear boots.

Your life seems so ideal and wholesome, do you have any “guilty pleasures”?
I read gossip blogs. It’s social research! Naw, it’s just a guilty pleasure….
As for wholesome, in real life I have the vocab of a sailor, I just try to keep it off the blog. In fact, that was the scariest part of being a substitute teacher ~ I was absolutely petrified I’d let a few f-bombs fly in front of a class full of innocent small-town fifth graders….

Are you content with having solely animal companions? Do you ever wish there were more humans in your activities? Or is internet contact fulfilling enough?
O.O And there I type my first bug-eye emoticon. I have wonderful humans in my life ~ I just don’t blog about them, respect for their privacy and all that.

I have a coyote howl question. I’ve lived in coyote areas all my life, heard and seen them passing through, taking up residence, pups and all, I have heard them howl and yowl and yap and scream, but one night i heard one say the weirdest thing and i have always wondered what that was about! It was one of those silent dark nights, there wasn’t any noise from wind or barn animals or dogs, cars or people. i stopped just to soak in the stillness. Suddenly from nearby there was a monotoned note, a long low coyote howl. It was just one note and it sounded very forced, not frolicky or excited like they usual sound. No other coyotes answered or joined in. i knew it was not a dog because it started with a tiny bit of the coyote high squeal they usually do. It sure puzzled me as to what was going on. It sounded a bit menacing but also a bit sad. After it stopped there was a long silence….and then all at once all the dogs in the area began to bark!! So often they never bark at coyote howlings, so they too recognized it as something different. My husband gave me your book when it first came out, it was so wonderful to read about your dear sweet Charlie!!! I thought, you of all people might know what emotion, activity or event might have been marked by that expression!
I think you heard a wolf. I’ve only heard a wolf howl once but it was exactly as you describe, and coyotes won’t answer a wolf.

What aspects, if any, of living in a more urban setting do you miss?
Restaurants ~ the diverse menus, the little low-light haunts. A hundred different bars to suit whatever mood you happen to be in, all non-smoking. The anonymity, being able to go somewhere where nobody knows your name. Art openings. Riding in elevators. I get to ride an elevator maybe once every 2 or 3 years.

Have you been doing any more medium format work? Any experiences with the equipment to share?
I haven’t ~ I don’t have anywhere to print, so I haven’t felt driven to shoot negs because it would drive me crazy to just loupe them! I have a Mamiya RZ67 and I love it so much.

Are yeh freezen yer arse off up there yet?
It’s coming….

How much wood do you lay by for winter – two cords or more?
ha ha ho ho…. about 11 cords between Mike and me.

Catch me up on your total critter count.
15: Eli, Charlie, Ranger, Chloe, Daisy, Sir Baby, Rue, Kettle, Mushy, Frisco, Flicka, Star, Fiona, Star Baby, Maia. And Fiona and Daisy are both pregnant, so two more on the way, in March and June, respectively!

Is there anything you still wish to have/accomplish in your life or are you content now as is?
I am content but not content in that way! There’s tons more I want to do and am working on and tons I haven’t thought of yet.

Weren’t you promising us a pic of your short hair? :-)
Yes! But then I realized I liked the fact that no one “out there” could really conjure my head since my hair changed so drastically. So I haven’t. Sorry!

In need of a jump start…

Hey all ~

I’ve fallen out of the blog routine and I need your help getting back in it.

Shall we do a Q&A?

Entertain me with your questions and I’ll try to entertain you with my answers.

Post ’em in the comment section and we’ll be off!

Maia!

It hasn’t taken me this long to name her, I promise,
it’s just taken me this long to write about it.

Way back when I first posted about this calf, a brilliant commenter left the suggestion to name her after a star, apropos of Star Brand.

I loved this idea and looked up a bunch of star names, and wrote them down along with some other suggested names. I went out and sat about fifteen feet from where this little calf was lying and started reading the names out loud.

When I said “Maia,” she raised her head and looked at me. I kept reading through the names and she went back to ignoring me, but when I said “Maia” again, she got up and trotted over to me. So Maia is quite certainly her name! It’s a star in the constellation Taurus (the bull), which is also rather fitting.

She’s feisty and sweet and has seamlessly integrated into the Farmily.
♥