Four years ago, when we were rebuilding two of the barns, my friend Ben on his tractor dug up this old and battered bucket, perhaps the oldest artifact we’ve yet found on the farm. I put it on a fencpost outside of the Dairy Barn. And when it snows, it is my way of measuring the depth of the storm. I might retire this old bucket and bring it into the farmhouse, and use it as a flower pot on the screened-in-porch.