We think a lot about ‘critters’ here at the End of the Road. We hear coyotes at night – and at noon when they respond to the noon whistle at the firehouse, bears, deer (grrrrrr) and fisher cats who once killed 60 month old chicks. Recently, there have been owls. Different owls watching over different houses, even an owl sitting on the recycle metal bin at the Transfer Station. Last week I woke in the night and looked out the window and saw a silent owl flying over the bright moonlit snow.

But it was different critters who visited the other night. Our neighbor’s horses broke out (having nightmares?) and wandered up our hill where they could keep an eye on specters and ghosts. Our neighbor down the hill called us and alerted us, before calling our horsey neighbor who walked them home. We were grateful they spent so much time up here; we went out with buckets and collected their manure for our compost bin. An unexpected harvest.