The World according to Cyprian, #15

On Tuesday and Thursday evenings, I have the boys to myself while Rosemary heads off to Tae Kwon Do. We try to maintain the regular schedule--bathroom, teeth brushing, a few stories, and the rosary. Sometimes Cletus is distraught that Rosemary is gone, but sometimes he's quiet, and the boys take advantage by asking questions, especially during the rosary.

Since today is Thursday, we prayed the Luminous Mysteries of Jesus's active ministry--the Baptism in the Jordan, the Wedding Feast at Cana, the Proclamation of the Kingdom, the Transfiguration, and the Institution of the Holy Eucharist. Cyprian and Clement were paying rapt attention, following along using some cord rosaries that their Aunt Becky had sent.

What follows is a faithful transcript of a conversation with Cyprian, at least as faithful as La Repubblica's Eugenio Scalfari's recollections of his recent conversations with Pope Francis (which isn't saying too much):

Cyprian: "Daddy, what is the Proclamation of the Kingdom?"

Me: "It's the period of Jesus's life when he went around telling people about the Kingdom of God and inviting them to believe in Him and come to Heaven to live with Him forever."

Cyprian: "But what is the story of the Proclamation of the Kingdom?"

Me: "Well, it really begins with the Baptism in the Jordan, where St. John baptizes Jesus, and then it continues with the initiation of his public ministry at the Wedding Feast at Cana. And then..."

Cyprian: "That's not a story. Let me tell you the story of the Proclamation of the Kingdom. First Jesus was born in a stable. Then they tried to kill Him, so He fled to His Kingdom."

Me: "To Egypt? That wasn't His kingdom, though. He did flee to Egypt with Mary and Joseph, but I think you're conflating a few different stories."

Cyprian: "No, that was His kingdom. And then they nailed Him to the cross, but He was still alive. They even nailed His feet to the cross, but He was still alive. And now we can be in His kingdom with Him forever if we love Him and if we're saints."

So, I enjoyed the conversation. It might be a little theologically and historically confused, but it's almost scary how much he's paying attention and learning in leaps and bounds. It's amazing how things coalesce in the mind of a five-year-old!

This is a pretty old picture of Cyprian, but it's definitely a favorite.

Yes, even snake tastes like chicken

It's old news by now for viewers of our fb pictures, but since I'm currently stuck in an airport, maybe I can take my dissertation-writing procrastination to new heights and write a blog post about our tasty snake dinner a few months back. That's right: The first animal processed at the Shire, though it was a happy inhabitant of the barn, was not a chicken, or a pig, or any other domestic barn animal, but rather a creature long and slithery.

The story goes something like this: We bought our small flock of goats even before closing on our house simply because of how good a deal Rosemary had been offered. They boarded for the first week with the family of one of my students, who have goats of their own, while Rosemary learned to milk them. Thus, we had animals in the barn from the very beginning. The barn, like the house, had been vacant for a year or more. I did my best to clean out a few of the stalls, but it seems that I failed to evict certain inhabitants.

Rosemary was the first to catch a glimpse of one as it slithered between two of the overlapping sheets of tin that comprise the roof. The lengthy beast was nonchalant enough, in fact, that when I came out in response to Rosemary's insistent cries at that first sighting, it was still resting with part of its tail hanging out, and I managed to catch the tip with the blade of a hoe before he escaped.

My wife feels pretty much the same about snakes as she does about spiders, so you can imagine how the snake became the talk of the house. We saw enough of it to learn that it was a Rat Snake, which, being non-venomous, would have been relatively harmless if we weren't planning to have chickens. In addition to rats, of course, a Rat Snake might also enjoy the occasional chick for an appetizer or a few eggs for dessert. So the snake had to go, period, even if Cyprian and I suffer from less severe forms of ophidiophobia than certain other residents of the Shire.

My opportunity finally came one day when we were about to leave for somewhere and Rosemary happened to spy the snake slithering through the grass. I grabbed the hoe, performing my manly duty as protector of the household, and then I nailed it to the side of the barn as I had once seen done to a giant snake in Bolivia. I believe the snake ended up measuring 5 feet, 3 or 4 inches.

Cyprian, helping me measure our captured prey. The Rat Snake measured 5'3" or 5'4"

As I gazed upon my catch, it occurred to me that there was quite a bit of meat on it. A little search on the Internet convinced me that a Rat Snake was perfectly safe to eat so long as it hadn't been poisoned and it lived in an area free from industrial chemicals. Rosemary was less than impressed by my idea and left me, Cyprian, and Clement to our own devices. It turned out to be the easiest animal I had ever cleaned. It's simply a matter of slitting the skin down the length of the belly and pulling it off, working from the head to the tail.

Snakes, I found, are comparatively easy to clean.

With my helpers!

I hung the skin up to dry, and though I still have it, it's unfortunately a little stiff since I didn't work enough oil into it. I later read that some people actually soak the skin in a solution of a few different things to make it far more supple than this skin ended up being.

My snakeskin.

Back to the day-of: I hacked the snake up into sections, breaded it with cornmeal, and fried it in coconut oil.

The next time I process a snake, I'll probably cut it in longer sections. I found that while most of the meat is on top along the spine, there is also some in the ribs, which is easiest to eat by bending the spine just a little to create space between the ribs. That's probably more information than most of you want, but I'll tell you what: Even Rosemary said it tasted good--just like chicken!

Of course, I had mentioned inhabitants, not inhabitant. The next snake Rosemary spied was a Rough Green Snake, who, it seems, inhabits a tree in the backyard. These long, slender, beautiful snakes are entirely harmless and, in fact, do a great deal of good in keeping down insect populations.

Our backyard Rough Green Snake. A colleague who knows the woods here in N.C. like the back of his hand told me that this is a remarkable specimen, both for its size and actually for being this far east. It's certainly larger than the (live) Rough Green Snake at Raleigh's Museum of Natural Science.

But there was one more inhabitant of the barn--another Rat Snake and likely the mate of the former, may he (or she?) rest in peace. It didn't help Rosemary's ophidiophobia do find this snake by stepping on him as she cleaned out old pallets in the horse stall that became part of the pig pen. I guess we had eaten enough snake by this point, however, because I chose to dump the second of my victims rather unceremoniously over the back fence. There's more meat that tastes like chicken, after all, on the broilers!

Okay, it might be a little morbid, but, like the heads of traitors displayed on London Bridge, the head of that first snake is still nailed to the barn to warn future snakes to stay away. 

Alaska!

A short hop to Atlanta, a longer hop to Salt Lake City, another long hop to Anchorage, and I'm in Alaska just briefly this weekend to be the godfather of my newest niece. Shame on me for leaving my pregnant wife with all the kids and all the farm chores, but... she did "okay" the trip in a generous moment. Thank you, Sweetie!

Here's the view from my in-laws' back yard:

They have a nice shire of their own, with raised beds full of veggies and even a few chickens:

I got a great trail run in this morning. The weather was perfect for running, and, thank God, I didn't encounter any moose or bears. 

But, safely behind an electric fence, we did watch bears enjoy their salmon supper later in the day at the nature preserve. I forgot to take pictures of the bears, but here's one of a majestic elk:

Siena and Una our kitties and their friend Ella the goat

Our kitties are a funny pair. They are sisters. We got them when they were six and a half weeks old in early May. I am very glad we got the two of them so that they would not be lonely. At first they were afraid and a bit stand offish. Very quickly with the help of the boys constantly petting and picking them up they became very friendly. We did have to teach Clement and Cletus to be gentle, which they are pretty good about now, most of the time.

Some of my favorite things about the kitties are how different they are. Not just in personalities but also in build. Siena is long and slinky, like a wild cat. She is an orange tiger stripe. Her tail is an inch longer than Una's. She is so playful and active. Even on hot days when she is panting from the heat if she spots a bug, she will jump and flip in the air to try and get it. Una on the other hand is more dainty. She is smaller in build and more quiet. Her face and paws are white and she is an orange caramel with pretty swirls on her coat. She also likes to play but can be very calm too.

Back when Ella was smaller and still getting a bottle. The kitties and Ella were very entertaining to watch play together in the backyard. There is a tree in the backyard that is short and low to the ground. The tree is a favorite with all. Siena and Una will race up the branches and launch themselves at each other and Ella. Ella can climb on the lower limbs and run and jump off the trunk. When they are all tuckered out the babies take a nap together on the deck.

When Ella gets out now I chase her back into the pasture. Apparently Siena finds this a great game of lets catch the goat and ride her. I really wish I got a video of the other day when I was trying to get Ella back in the pasture. I saw Ella eating my blueberry bush and rushed out of the house to chase her away. Siena seeing me run and Ella bolting, decided to run after Ella. Jumping at Ella Siena managed to grab a hold of her neck swing up and take a short ride. It was quite comical:')

Poor Una the other day got locked in the van for hours. Thankfully she is okay. Note: always check where the kids have been playing. Usually something is amiss.

And lastly, Siena has inadvertently discovered the electric fence. Last night I was out working with Stella
when suddenly there was a yowl and siena flying in the air in ball of fur. Una was on a fence post also puffed out, I am not sure if she got shocked or not. After I finished with Stella I went and found Siena in the barn. She was all puffy and purry, so hopefully it was a lesson learned.

Siena loves to bug Una

Yes, she's definitely pregnant

Some people invest in expensive pregnancy tests, or even go to the doctor to confirm pregnancy, but I think this is all the proof we need in Rosemary's case.

The World According to Cyprian, #14

Cyprian, with great interest, was watching the news this evening about the immigration crisis and President Obama's refusal to visit the border.

Cyprian: "Daddy, is the president a good guy or a bad guy?"

Me: "Well, it's complicated. I think he tries to be a good guy, but he has a tough job, and sometimes it's hard to know what the right thing to do is when you're in charge.."

Cyprian: "But doesn't he have anybody to teach him how to be good?"

Me: "Hmmm.... Let's just watch the news."

Phew, another project completed!

It took a few days and involved one slight mishap--a collapsed roof--but the meat chickens finally have a pen of their own. They're now twice the size of the heritage breeds and really needed to be separated in order to "finish" them with a diet different from that of the future laying flock. The new run occupies the space between the main run and the pig pen. I built a small house with a roost in it, and constructed the outside run in the same way as the main run--one-inch wire at ground level and two-inch wire the rest of the way up and over the top. This should keep potential predators at bay.

A few more weeks, and it'll be time to fill up the freezer!

The meat chickens' new run. The tarp is to provide a little extra shade. I'm thinking of planting a tree or two in the space between the runs and the back pasture.

Happily doing what meat chickens do (eat and drink).

Wait one second, you mean you're going to EAT me?!?!?

The clean-up crew, paid in rice krispy treats.