(Above:) An image of the upward slope to be seen in the Alexander Springs swimming area (looking from the spring itself).
1/31/2021: Sunny, breezy, and high of 77. The weather could not be much better.
Dawn of 1/31/2021: Padre and I found that Brahman cow #486 had calved in the south-east pasture. 
A picture of the new mother herself. 
Calves cowngregate around another fresh mother and her newborn Beefmaster. 
Dinner: Angus Picanha served with garden-fresh greens. In this case, the garnish is a gargantuan piece o’ arugula.
2/1/2021: The day started out cool at 55 F, and alas, the temperature never climbed any higher. There is going to be another frost in the morning.
Lunch today: A pleasant repast of baked potato filled with Padre-made beef & chicken soup. 
Platform for the package drop station that I helped Padre put together this afternoon. The image was captured after dusk, because I had neglected to take pictures throughout the day. I will blame this on the fact that I was very reluctant to remove my warm gloves for the purpose of tapping an image-capture button. 
A stop by Madre’s office allowed me to picture the progress we’ve been making in regard to cutting plywood for the walls. 
And, of course, here is the warm haven where I commenced to spend most of the remaining evening. 
Dinner: A slice of Padre-pizza alongside a piece of leftover Prosciutto & Blueberry Pie.
2/2/2021: A chilly albeit sunny day.
2/3/2021: Temperature’s high for today was 55 F. The swim took place in late morning with a temperature of 47 F and a light breeze. It truly was warmer in the water.
Dawn of 2/3/2021: The Loquat still stands in spite of infrequent watering and multiple frosts. 
Early day kitchen activities. I salt & peppered a Master Blend BLU shoulder roast in preparation for the evening meal. 
Ritsabittle #7: Alexander Springs. 
A glance at the depths. This sight was so impressive that I actually got out of the water to procure the camera that I had left on a nearby bench. The deepest part of this picture was about 30′, and on returning home, I found that it spews out 810 gallons per second. 
A view toward the shore from the spring. The underwater terrain simply slopes upward. 
A frigid Jacob after emerging from the springs. 
On the way home, I stopped by Bear Dam to enjoy the quiet vista once again. 
Lunch: I consumed a light (and late) lunch at Aneta’s Bistro. This was the first dish: a heaping bowl full o’ delightful cabbage salad. 
The main course was a warming and quite delicious Zurich soup (sour rye broth, potato, and kielbasa slices). 
After returning home and reposing in Jacobhouse for about half an hour, I ventured outdoors where I filled 12 bags of Moo-Magic for the compost stand. 
Late day of 2/3/2021.
2/4/2021: A heavy frost in the morning was ensued by pleasant high temperatures of 65 F. The clear blue sky continues to abound.
Dawn of 2/4/2021: A heated amassment of bovines on a frosty morning. 
The Watch-Bull. 
My PoV of the people across from me at Lorito’s: the Madre and Padre. 
Lunch began with a very pleasant side salad dressed in Lorito’s in-house Italian dressing. 
The main course: A eggplant-Parmesan sub (on a soft, toasty bun), a couple enormous & quite flavorful meatballs, and a piece of Madre’s massive mushroom & sausage pizza. It was a terrific and served up with great rapidity. 
Lorito’s iconic road-sign that has been in existence far longer than I have. 
A pair of love-bug-like insects that Madre had me picture before cleaning up construction materials for the day. 
Unfortunately, the Jewels of Opar were partially frozen in the night, so I had to trim them back. 
The day’s final outdoor activity: I fixed the pipe behind the outdoor sink so it was level along the postern side. It took about 1 minute of digging. 
Dinner ‘appetizer’: Four egg burritos on corn tortillas with a delicious fresh relish comprised of onions, salad burnet, and arugula. Topped with Cholula hot sauce. 
Main course: A large amount of butter-leaf salad accompanied by Padre-made pizza.
2/5/2021: A pleasant day with a high near 73 F. This was was also the day of ‘sink repair’ in the Jacobhouse kitchen.
Dawn of 2/5/2021. 
Waving at myself through the bottom of the kitchen sink. I had to replace the basket strainer today, because one of the seals were beginning to fail. 
Fortunately, I could open the upper potion of this base-cabinet and was thus able to fit in a hefty pair of pliers. This was necessary due to… someone’s particularly messy caulking job. 
An exhibition of my first time utilizing plumber’s putty. 
It sealed up quite well. 
Fully operational Jacobhouse kitchen sink. 
A glance inside the Jacobhouse fridge: plenty of butter, eggs, and… frozen flour? (Freezing-temperature flour is a splendid way of keeping dough-temp low when making pastries.) 
Dinner: A BLU chuck steak accompanied by garden-fresh arugula and locally grown hydroponic butter-lettuce.
2/6/2021: A somewhat grey day with temperatures ranging between the high 50s and high 60s (Fahrenheit).
Unique morning activity #1 of 2/6/2021: Shredding suet for dinner pastries. 
Morning activity #2: Making sculptures of a cow’s reproductive tract just before first palpation. (More in Final Note). It should be noted that Madre provided the clay. Many thanks! 
Today’s lunch was procured from Sushi Bistro. Delicious. 
The evening walk-around. There was no Segway this evening due to the arrival of heavy rains. 
Feeding Doug prior to pastry crafting. 
Pastries prepared for dinner. The left were prepared with beef suet whereas the right were prepared with butter. In regard to flavor, the former were reminiscent of savory and delicate cookies while the latter was a classic albeit delectable plain-n-simple pastry.
Final Note: New Learning
Another step was taken down the Walden path this week, and it occurred on Saturday with Padre beginning to teach me and comrade-in-arms (or should I say comrade-arm’s-in?) Hannah how to artificially inseminate cattle. I have been interested in the procedure for quite some time, but due to some of the less savory aspects – namely palpation of the reproductive tract through the rectum – I was very reluctant to engage in the activity.
Thanks to my luck, however, I soon came across an opportunity to learn the procedure alongside a fellow student, and I seized that opportunity as soon I saw it. Hannah proved to be a downright excellent learning partner who, when it came time for the in-cow portion (Padre had us pick a number and she won the honor of first-palpation), exhibited not one inkling of hesitance. I respected that quite a lot… and the fact that she made it appear so easy.
So, to conclude this week’s post, I would like to thank Padre for beginning to teach me another facet of his trade, and I would like to thank Hannah for inspiring me to take one more step toward Walden.
A preview of next week’s content: