In the morning, Rose sits up in the Pole Barn, looking out from her favorite vantage point at the point. The sheep are gone, but she can look out over the barns and the valley, and she never tires of her view of the farm, always updating her map of the farm, I think. Her legs have been stiff lately, so we put her sheepskin rug up underneath her. Sometimes she shivers from the cold, but she never wants to come in. Rose does not waver from her work, ever.

—

Congratulations to my friend, the writer Jenna Woginrich of Cold Antler Farm, whose lovely new novel “Barnheart” has been picked as a red hot recommended new book by IndieNext. She is in some elegant company. “Barnheart” is cheap and very engaging – about a young woman’s absurd and successful passion to own a farm – and is also available signed and personalized from Battenkill Books. If you have ever dreamed of getting a farm, this is how it can happen. Jenna and I are tearing up the joint for Christmas. Hop aboard this train. 518 677 2515.