Our Daily Work: Ranch Girl and a Boy Named Toby

I begin today with a poem by Robert Frost, whose work I am drawn to because of his rural settings, his use of colloquialisms and vernacular expressions, and, in the case of the following poem and others, his celebration of “the high calling of one’s daily work.”

The Pasture

I’m going out to clean the pasture spring;
I’ll only stop to rake the leaves away
(And wait to watch the water clear, I may):
‘And I  sha’n’t be gone long. —You come too.

I’m going out to fetch the little calf
That’s standing by the mother. It’s so young.
It totters when she licks it with her tongue.
I sha’n’t be gone long. —You come too.

Isn’t it nice to be invited to join someone, to be included. I don’t believe the farmer needs any help, only the company. Even the most introverted of us, need social connections and meaningful work. Work gives us confidence and purpose and accomplishment. Even Adam and Eve had to tend their garden. As Voltaire observed in Candide, “we must each tend our own garden.” —Or something like that. You can look up the exact quote.

So I keep trying to tend mine, at least, some parts of it. I keep writing and laboring at the things that come with it. In March, Pelican Publishing released my new middle-grade chapter book titled Ranch Girl and a Boy Named Toby.I like to say I wrote it for ages 8 to 88, or 98 for that matter. And I truly believe I did. The story involves Kelsi, Ampara, and Dopey from the previous Ranch Girl and the Orphan Lamb Adventure and adds a boy named Toby. Fifth graders Kelsi and Toby get into a skirmish over a classroom seat, and it takes Ampara, a mysterious Great Egret, some hardships, laughter, labor, and adventures for the threesome to understand what really matters.

Every now and then, I may invite you into some of my writing-related chores. I hope you’ll come, too.

Note: I now have an additional author website titled Brenda Ethridge Ferguson. Here is the link to that site. https://www.brendaethridgeferguson.com

That site also has a link to Story Mill Ranch and a couple of social media sites. If you have comments or questions, let me know. I will enjoy the company.

https://storymillranch.com/books