Too

This bowl of porridge is too hot.

This bowl of porridge is too cold.

This bowl of porridge is just right.

--Goldilocks

Why, i' faith, methinks she’s too low for a high praise, 

too brown for a fair praise, 

and too little for a great praise. 

Only this commendation I can afford her, 

that were she other than she is, she were unhandsome, 

and being no other but as she is, I do not like her.

--Benedick, Much Ado About Nothing

Oh everything comes in its own special size
I guess it can be measured by where you put your eyes
It looks big when you're close
And it looks smaller back a bit
That's about the size of it.

Oh the big becomes the little
When you see it back a bit
The huge becomes the dinky
Which is just the opposite
Of the larger that gets smaller
It never seems to fit
That's about the size of it.

That the big becomes the little
That's the way it seems to go
That they make up a larger thing
Is something good to know
It's nice to know that though we're small
There's always room to grow
And that's about the size of it.

That's about the size
It's where you put your eyes
That's about the size of it.

--Sesame Street's "That's About the Size of It"

In general, we get three basic responses to R Farm- too big, too little, and just right.  

For those most impacted by the negative consequences of our choices- rooster noises, free-range poultry, fallen trees- we are too big.  We respect that they didn't choose to farm so we are working to try to minimize our intrusions into their lives while still accomplishing our goals, which is no easy task on any given day.

For those with the most farming experience our 6 acres and dreams of knee-high goats are too small.  Several farmers with tractors and serious livestock have given me this dimpled smile with twinkling eyes when I talk about getting Nigerians.  It's not a demeaning look but rather an indulgent one, maybe even a whimsically fond one, like a parent watching their kid.  Given that most 5th grade 4H-ers know more than I do about farming, I've decided that I'm okay with bemused.  I do hope someday to wow them with Nigerian goat milk caramel or something impressive so I can join the 'real' farmer club.  Not likely.  Maybe someday I'll work up to livestock that weighs more than I do, but I'm a novice and for now, I tell them, I'm sticking to livestock I can load into a dog kennel in the back of my mini-van. 

For those who also long for a farm of their own- urban dwellers with dreams of space and quiet, aspiring homesteaders, expatriate rural kids all grown up and working their opportunities in the city- we are just right.  They come to garden, visit, hunt, and play.  They ooooh and aaaah over our eggs, pick apples for the chickens, chainsaw, walk through the woods, eat some homegrown food, laugh at our escapades, and remind us why we are here trying to keep our balance between too big and too little and find our just right.