Prolific: Farm Life Multiplied

Since no concrete company would send out trucks with snow on the ground, Carrie arranged for us to rent (for cheap, off season) what would normally be a concrete plant sized for a large construction-site. Cheap and easy!

I'd certainly never seen the like (orange foam and blue plastic piping and rebar and all), but she posted research papers showing this or that additive had been lab- and field-tested to this or that strength in some kind of Canadian oil field conditions.

I shrugged and had to trust her and the articles that it would work. If it failed, we'd have to tear it all up, and I spent some significant worry about the competence of our 'engineering staff'.

In the barn itself, we had teams welding in I-beams to prop up existing sagging members, spanning large gaps to add more floors (we didn't need nearly the hay storage we had), and building-out sort-of classroom areas that could keep our day-care kids occupied. Importantly and per Lara, autistic kids (a specialty that would generate special-ed bigger bucks for childcare) would go LOTS better if we put in high-tech soundproofing at the design stage.

I shrugged at that part - materials were really cheap and most of our labor was free.

The rest was the normal weather-proofing, insulating, adding electrical outlets and bathrooms sized for grown-ups and kids, all the things that had to happen for a daycare center to spring up.

Below the barn, in the basement animal areas, we'd cleaned up early on by power washing and sealing the concrete, then repairing and repainting the wood. It was amazing down there, almost too nice for animals, we'd say. The kids, we figured, would love it.

While we tore out some of the basement areas we weren't going to use, upstairs we kept the grain bins for the animals downstairs than we probably needed. The concept we had was, better safe than sorry, because feed prices varied widely and having more let us ride out times when feed was expensive.

Plus, the woodwork scattered around the farm was amazing - intricately carved wood placards that read, "Barley", "Oats", "Dried Hops", "Alfalfa", etc.

Progress, progress, progress...

== Chapter: Migrating to Plenty ==

Yet another back-up is required. I've left off this big thing because it's hard to keep this history all blended in the middle and have it make sense.

Mid-September, about a month after we moved in and about the same time we were going strong with the horse boarding and stable improvements, Ann and Yee pulled me aside with a worried looks. Ann said some of the laborers who had earlier picking our fruit trees had approached Yee and her. They were here in the country illegally.

The problem was, they were sleeping outside and it was starting to get cold, and they wanted somewhere to stay. They said, they'd seen the old blacksmith shop far out in the woods, and the "half-moon stables" way out past the lake.

I didn't even know we had more stables, much less half moon ones, and anything much beyond the lake we hadn't worried about, it was all deep woods back there.

It turned out, what they were referring to was on the far side of the property, way down the horse trails and far beyond the bigger lake. The farm's property was large and rugged in places, from gently rolling to super-hilly, with ponds separated by creeks and gullies.

I wanted to know where these stables were, so we took a long walk and got out there. We had to walk a long while, step over a lot of deadwood across the trails, and just trust that where we were going was reasonable. We had backpacks in case we got lost, but I figured given my compass and the mild weather we could get back roughly the same way we went out.

We found the stables, Ann, Yee, Kelly, and I. They lay in a wide part of a ravine, with access to a steady stream / creek, but little chance of flooding since the ground kept sloping all around.

They seemed pretty nice and relatively untouched-by-time. The buildings were simplistic but not old, the rough-hewn plank type but nothing seemed rotted. Given the sight lines and how hidden it was, the goal might even have been to board horses in secret, I had no idea.

A lane led away and up a steep hill, one we explored later to find went across a few small bridges that looked washed-out but actually weren't. Eventually that led to train tracks that went through the corner of the property, and a road along them to the county road a half-mile away.

(Looking closely later, we found the chopped-up and rotten wooden remains of an onload/offload siding on our side of the tracks, and we all wondered why anyone would stop a train next to a road that led to hidden stables. Something was fishy, but it was long before my time.)

Next to that remote stables, we found five large tin-roofed quonset huts, 75 feet long each, lined up and filled with rotten compacted hay. The roofs seemed intact and watertight, so we guessed the migrants could live there, but they'd have some work to do first.

Yee described (her English getting better all the time) that her friends, the laborers, had explored all around our property on the horse trails using "rugged" bicycles. They'd found the stables and huts, and wanted to stay there.

Ann looked worried about the prospect.

I said, the purpose of this property is to 'make a bounty'. That is, to give to people who need it, and let them build and create and grow and love. I said, "I don't give a damn about where someone is from, if they want to work and build a life, great. Sure."

The look on Ann's face told me to temper this idea with some realism, so the idea turned into letting the laborers move into whatever space they wanted to as long as they limited their off-farm movements and were careful to not "officially" be there. It was rugged area, so they'd be fine as long as no one followed them in.

Jay, based on her having been a high-school prankster, urged us to come up with a good mutually-reinforcing cover story so if anyone got caught, it wouldn't unravel everyone's situation.

Yee understood that, and a plan was hatched.

Until they could fix up the distant huts and the stables, I told Yee they could set up some bunks in one of the side-house basements, but they'd have to abide by Farm Rules, same as everyone else.

So, that's the backstory. After they moved in starting in late September (I was preoccupied as previously mentioned), Yee and Ann took care of the Tea ritual.

Officially, I didn't know that anything was happening.

The food budget increased significantly, Yee told me on-purpose-vaguely, but she still had enough to cover from the house-gardens and fruit trees income, plus rent and contributions from the migrants themselves, who had spent most of the year working.

She covered this by buying them cheap bulk rice and beans. Fresh veggies had come out of the garden, but one of the projects was pulling out some vineyard area and setting up greenhouses.

Mr. Tamberlin okayed expenses for materials and labor for these greenhouses, handled all by Ann and Yee, of course. This gave our refugees jobs on the farm that didn't require them going anywhere and risking getting caught. I paid going rates, and I knew they were Very Happy about that.

The chicken house was another of their first projects.

Since they would be walking around the main part of the property (I found out later) they'd set up a cozy duck blind to monitor the farm entrance and phone in when farmers and other tradesmen came by.

So, mid-November, shortly after the Great Pour of the building foundations, our migrants and Ann decided it was time I more formally knew who they were, and to hell with the false secrecy.

Did I mention all of these people were women and we had 54 of them? Yee had insisted that only the women could stay with us, ("Female farm! Men Stick Out!"), and they had to cut off contact with any male friends. Some aspects of Korean culture made this simpler, she told me later, since I'd seen men among the migrants that had picked some of our fruit trees.

I didn't know any of this, of course, though I did 'hear rumors'.

Per some master strategy, some of them slept in Iota's basement, some in the chicken house, some in the half-moon stables, and some in other places. I wasn't informed on all this for good deniability reasons, but it filled deep parts of me with joy that the farm was turning into a cherished home.

Lots of spaces were being filled in.

Ann had become our house-mother, and she delegated my 'rotation' scheduling to Kelly, who started bringing in some of the migrant women once she'd validated their medical checkups at some clinic or doctor in another city. I wasn't sure, at first, how I could deal with a woman who didn't speak English, but was happily surprised that most spoke better than Yee.

What part of this life stimulated me? I didn't know, but there was some magic in this farm that just gave me power and purpose, vitality and a definite strength of libido.

Yes, I admit it. I was horny a lot of the time. Most of the time, even.

Part of it had to be my age, I told myself, or the good cooking, or the running workouts, or whatever magic way the Tea had altered me. It didn't matter. I could come once at bedtime, usually I'd wake in the middle of the night and get inspired, and then before getting up in the morning. It got to be a routine.

I think it was round-abouts mid-October that Kelly shifted the rotation from one bedmate to two, which was fine for everyone. We were all happy, and loving it.

That said, it wasn't all night-time trysts.

Sometimes, frequently even, I'd be walking around the property, to and from the stables, or the blacksmith shop, or wherever, and I'd run into one of the gals (anglo or Korean) and they'd have a kiss for me. Of course, I loved kisses.

That kiss might just be it and they'd be gone, or there might be a, "So, quickie?"

More often than not, I'd say YES, sure, and we'd kiss for a while, she'd give me a quick lick, and then in-I'd-go, a bend and reach-around for the joy-button, or a lean-against-a-tree/up-and-in thing, complete with boob grabs, or mangled mouths, whatever we got inspired to do, passionate tongue-rubs that were fun and joy-making for both of us.

Quickies were a lot of fun!!

Outdoor quickies, when the air got chilly, made for another kind of urgency that gave us (whoever it was) some added incentive to not take forever just panting away next to a tree.

Fun stuff indeed! Boobs! Sex! Spurting and coming and hearing their joy, or mine, echo in the woods!

It seemed like my sense of fun was shared, and that's why it kept happening - maybe half the time at least there'd be a girl-shudder-happy, and I liked that. Of course, I tried to help most of the time, but it didn't always work.

Still, it must have been good on some level because it kept happening, and 'cuz I'd get kisses later from the same people, in passing, and a warm-happy vibe to go with them.

Back to the practical.

These migrants were seriously something else! Hard workers, smart, capable, driven to do good work and keep at it. I didn't know how to thank them enough. I certainly wasn't paying them enough wages based on the number of hours they seemed to be doing things. Yee said they'd need to stay over-winter at least until the farm or temp jobs started again, and I was happy we could benefit each other (in ways besides joy-making).

Still, there were complexities about buying essential housewares and consumables, so our main group helped by doing shopping runs.

I wondered who on our farm knew what was going on with the migrants and who didn't. No one really talked about it, and I was afraid to bring it up because if I officially knew, I might have to testify someday and that would get complicated.

It was safer to not know, I thought.

Thanksgiving, November 30th that year, Ann and Yee gathered us all together, clearing the center of the library by rolling rugs and pushing the furniture to the walls, then setting up card tables. They wanted all of us to eat in the same place at the same time.

Many of our Korean counterparts thus had their first Thanksgiving dinner, learning what the traditions were and how to make the American dishes the rest of us were used to.

The trouble was, only 9 of us "anglo's" remained in town. The rest went back to family homes for the holiday, but we had a good thanksgiving together anyway.

As tradition goes, the guests bring food, too, so our Thanksgiving had a mix of Korean and American food, mostly prepared with minimal hot-spicy because I didn't do that well, and neither did a few others.

At the tables, I said the blessings and we ate.

Looking around then, I realized that I knew EVERY one of them already! I'd even been intimate with most if not all of them over the preceding two months, so their smiling faces made even more of an impression on my mind. Gathering together like that wasn't something we'd done before, so all of us reacted to being together in the main house at once with a kind of surprise.

We ate and were happy, then played some Go and Backgammon and something Jay called, The Royal Game of Ur, which was surprisingly fun since it was more complicated than it looked like at first.

That night we had a 'sleep over', with those that were staying in rougher quarters instead unrolling a mat in the library or on my bedroom floor.

I thought I would be embarrassed, but somehow my brain had adjusted to many women walking around partially- or unclothed, beautiful bodies and fun minds all around me.

Our shared experience had to have affected them, too. The farm was definitely hard work most of the time, but at least we could enjoy each other and know we had people around us that cared for us.

In terms of the normal, since everything I did was defined as normal, I think any hangups or worries that the women had (both anglos and asians) faded away. That's what I heard in side-conversations, at least. For instance, some had been initially unsure about receiving oral sex, but after I'd done it, they liked it fine and got into it.

Some women even helped each other out in my bed when I asked them to, and that made me feel good also, though more from a wanting people to be happy perspective than a sex-drive thing. At least, it seemed that way. I didn't really think about the whys too much, I just lived in the moment when they were in arms-reach.

I had no opinion on whether my housemates were lesbians, that was their status and I wouldn't have presumed to alter it. Both anglo and Korean, they had Ritual Tea instructions to both be open-minded and to do what I asked, so that seemed to help in the bedroom, and I didn't ask for complicated things.

Thank goodness, nobody wanted to do anal. I certainly didn't, and that was fine with everyone else, too.

== Chapter: Re-Re-Thanksgivings ==

Three weekends after Thanksgiving on a mid-December Friday night, Ann did a RE-Thanksgiving, a repeat meal of our thanksgiving holiday, for all the adopted-family instead of just mostly the asian parts. Being students, most of the anglo girls had gone home for the holiday, but now that everyone was back Ann told me she wanted a bigger gathering so we could all have the feeling of unity we'd had earlier.

She said, and I echoed, that the people we choose as family are more important to some of us than those who are born-relations.

So, the food was cooked and those new to the cuisine had a second chance to practice the recipes, and we sat down to a Saturday late lunch all gathered in a much-much-more crowded library room (and some through the open doors into the dining room). Every person was there, and we were all smiles at flaunting the rules by having everyone in the same place.

The first part of the meal was very similar - thanking the chefs, giving thanks, even singing the dinner-prayer-song that had taken over as a meal thing.

Well into the meal, it was a normal meal.

And, then, it started not being so normal.

Kelly stood up and clinked her glass.

I had no idea what was going on, of course, I was clueless about Oh-So-Many things.

Utterly Fucking Clueless!

"Attention, Please," she said, clinking her water glass with a spoon, "Attention..."

Did I mention I was clueless?

Everyone quieted down, and that's saying something because removing the furniture again and fitting 54 + 28 = 82 of us in a pair of rooms to eat wasn't easy.

Murmuring kept up until it stopped, her gaze bringing all eyes up.

She continued, her voice clear and strong, a far more confident person even than when she'd arrived a few months before. The rugs had been rolled up from the marble floor so the sound carried easily.

Kelly said, "Some time ago, the population of this farm was one person. Then, it grew, first with students, then with those new to our shores. And, we celebrated that, and celebrate it today."

Someone started applauding, and various people stood up as an ovation, then everyone stood up and beamed at each other.

Kelly's hand waving got everyone to sit down again, and we all settled back in our seats. This was starting to resemble my high school track awards banquet, which gave me some comfort, but something seemed off even then.

Getting silence again, she continued, her eyes happy and glowing, and everyone was there with her. Impressive indeed.

"Besides this growth in numbers, beautiful as it is, there were rumors, and rumors of rumors, of a different kind of growing - also, a beautiful kind."

She looked around, beaming smiles, and everyone around us beamingly happy, too, sharing the lit-up eyes - and I knew where this was going, about Jay, since my quick mental math put this at her being 3 months 'gone' and therefore able to officially announce.

Kelly's voice carried. "That beautiful growing, that's a far more important part of this farm than on most farms, since we are here with a promise, that we are enjoined to this farm, by the farm's bounty. That is, it's not just that we were adding people to sleep here. We were adding a more life-affirming, and for most of us, a more religious growing that we celebrate with Big, Big Joy."

She paused and looked around, and I looked over to find Jay's face far on the other side of the room.

"There is one among us, though," Kelly said, "who doesn't know what's coming, the happy complication, who isn't really in on all the WAYS in which we celebrate, and the WHYS of our celebration. So I'd like to give him a chance to speak. But, before that, and it's not fair to him, AT ALL, we are going to speak TOGETHER with him, and fill his life with even more joy than perhaps he knew about this morning."

My heart and stomach started doing butterflies. There was another person, maybe, who she was implying was pregnant? My heart was singing, but my nervousness was huge, and I didn't know what to do but look like my normal confused and loving self, because that's what I was.

"We all know, we've known for a while, that Jay is pregnant. Jay, please stand."

Across the room, Jay stood, wiping her mouth with a napkin, nervous but glowingly happy.

And now, I ask you my sisters, "JOIN HER, all those others here... who are ALSO pregnant."

My mouth dropped, even before anyone moved. The 'all of those'? There was more than one?

The entire room shifted.

That is, my world shifted, my consciousness slipped sideways, I came out of my body and back into it, and then the sound... of ... chairs.

More chairs, more movement..

And, more movement...!?!?

Chairs next to me moved. Chairs far from me moved.

It seemed like the whole room stood up.

I stood, too, not knowing what to do when so many around me were standing. My joy was overflowing, and my surprise even more so. I was tempted to go around and hug every one, and I started to, but... there were too many, Kelly stopped me.