Archive for December, 2009

One morning we saw that one of our fields was covered in empty insect skins affixed to blades of grass, twigs and bushes. We had just witnessed the mass emergence of thousands of Chicharras from holes and the subsequent shedding of their old skins before flying away. One of the thorn trees was covered in the red coloured insects.

A newly emerged Chicharra drying in the sun

These little devils are harmless, but goodness me, don’t they make a noise. One on its own can sound like a sawmill going flat out.

Every time we walk around we see or hear a ‘new’ bird, or see a new plant or get a glimpse of one of the many patagonian hares that live around here.

A wild plant found in one of our fields

The day before we left for the farm (expecting the container to follow on a day or two later) we saw on the news that San Rafael (25km from our farm) had been hit by the worst storm in living memory. Many areas had hailstones the size of tennis balls and the whole zone was hit by 170 km/hr winds. Entire orchards and vineyards close to San Rafael had just bare branches as the hail stripped off all vegetation.
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The story of our container’s journey to us is rapidly turning into a saga. Not the type of saga which is passed down from generation to generation, retold thousands of times in front of blazing fires in Scandinavian halls, not a saga about Vikings rampaging through Saxon villages but of the inability of a shipping company’s local representative to do what they were asked and paid to do.
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