This morning's weekly post from Grateful Growers Farm in Denver, N.C., included this musing from Natalie Veres:
"Our two inches of snow last night made for a challenging drive home from the kitchen, and delayed our pork delivery for a day, but it's pretty. It also gives us a new form of evidence about who we share our space with....footprints reveal our co-habitors, visitors/intruders, even when we don't see them in the flesh. Sure, we have lots of animals here on purpose: people, dogs, cats, pigs, chickens, goats, sheep, rabbits. But a veritable menagerie is here too: squirrels, wild rabbits, birds, mice, rats, raccoon, voles, moles, opossum, and even the occasional coyote (although not recently, thank goodness). Today I noticed just how far up toward the barn that one goofy hen likes to roam, because of her footprints. I noticed how inefficient I can be because I walked over the same ground multiple times - my footprints gave me away. I noticed it's time to rebait the rat traps - footprints of said varmints practically announced their presence. Just when I thought I had them beaten. I think there must be a rat bus service that brings them in from all over to repopulate the place. I spend a fair amount of time watching my animals, noticing their habits and favorite places. But today when I got to see their footprints, I got to know them a little bit better. If you could see your footprints every day, what could you learn??"
Indeed. Thanks, Natalie. Keep your eyes on the ground.