It’s morning on the farm, and some of the smallest family members are waking up to eat their breakfast in their stalls.  Four to a stall, our dwarf horses are so small they have plenty of space to stretch. After they’re groomed and gorgeous, we open the gate, and they wander down to their own corral, where they’ll eat lunch, a delicious meal of watered-down hay. As they make their way back to the stall, one particularly sassy filly, Chiquita, likes to tease the stallion, who has to be kept separate from the mares. She flirts, throwing her rear toward him, as they trot back to their stalls. Drives him nuts.

I’ve loved horses ever since I could remember, riding hunters and jumpers as a child, and having my own when I was 12. Growing up in Los Angeles, I boarded my first horses at Will Rogers State Park. I never intended to own dwarf horses – it’s common for them to have quite a few health problems, and they’re like infants, requiring constant attention, and often special medicine.  I started with miniature horses, tiny animals at 29 inches, though compared to the dwarf horses, who are often half that, they seem full-sized!

Showing the miniatures in shows, one trainer gave me a dwarf who needed a great deal of care. I hadn’t yet bought the farm, so I had created a mini-version of a city farm, caring for them in Beverly Hills! It’s not just Rodeo Drive and shiny cars.

Dwarf horses pull at those same heart-strings that all that teeny-tiny animals do (kittens!), but while you might be tempted to breed them, their health issues pull at other, harder heart-strings.  We had to do a stem-cell transplant for one, who lived a healthier life, but still died from her heart issues. We’ve had to straighten the legs of one little girl – at 14 inches, she was so small we used tongue depressors as splints. We take good care of them, rescuing others when needed.

Our dwarves and minis are part of The City Farm family, sharing the good life along with our small Zebu cows, ducks and Kunekune pigs, (pronounced “cooney cooney”), who are my pets. Buying the farm in 2009, I’ve learned so much to grow it to where it is today, and I’m so happy to share it with you all.  I’d love to connect: share your farm memories with us here in the comments, or via Twitter or Facebook!

Thanksgiving is almost here, despite the strains of canned Christmas music in stores across the country, rushing us toward December. Don’t let big box stores steal a day of thankfulness and gratitude!  It’s the best time of the year for time-honored traditions that often don’t cost a thing.

A recent request for off-beat Thanksgiving traditions revealed some unexpected traditions: an American married to a Scotsman now celebrates St. Andrew’s Day as well, with a bit of haggis added to her Thanksgiving Day menu. One friend’s family chooses a “theme” for Turkey day, and the clan comes in costume, whether it be Greek gods, football players, or garden flowers (and a gnome).  And then there’s the friend whose grandmother “dresses” the turkey in a bikini, a la Amelia Bedelia, that delightfully literal children’s book heroine:

“Amelia Bedelia is Mr. and Mrs. Roger’s new maid, and she has a big list of things to do while they are away. But they sure do ask her to do strange things! The list says to dust the furniture, draw the drapes, and dress the turkey. And Amelia Bedelia does just that: she carefully sprinkles dust all over the furniture; she takes out a pad of paper and draws a beautiful picture of the drapes; and she wastes no time taking out a needle and thread and making a nice little suit to dress the turkey with.” (Exodus Books)

Grandma’s turkey-bikini (turkini?) must add a touch of scandal when one requests the breast meat.  Does your family have any unlikely traditions to celebrate Thanksgiving?  Have you incorporated any other countries’ customs into your day?

With southern California’s sunny Novembers, it’s often an outdoor meal. It’s always fun to burn the booze and butter with a morning walk or a game of flag football (or does your family go for the full tackle?).  If you live where it’s already rainy or even snowing, what indoor games are your favorites? Is the TV tuned in to the Macy’s Parade? Do you, grown adult, actually prefer sitting at the kid’s table, where you can really dig in to your pumpkin pie?

If you’re growing a winter garden, have you harvested anything to add fresh farm-to-table bites to your menu?  According to Bon Appétit, one thing you don’t want fresh your garden is a puree of your own pumpkin for that classic pie. The magazine’s site highlights common mistakes to avoid for each course of your meal.

The Thanksgiving dinner is the most important part of my day, so I don’t want electronics distracting from what is important, tasting and sharing the delicious meal!  There’s a strict no TV, iPads, games or phones rule. And no kids’ table, I enjoy eating and talking with everyone!

Take a look at a few authors’ Thanksgiving traditions over at Real Simple, from Garrison Keillor’s prayers to the music accompanying Allegra Goodman’s memories.

What stories shape your Thanksgiving celebrations? I’d love to know some of your traditions! Do you make / grow your own decorations? Is there a family recipe that must be on the table?  Do you donate to the food bank? Or take a moment at the table to share what you’re thankful for?  Leave a note in the comment section, or tell us on Twitter @TheCityFarm.

This year, I’m especially thankful for the new City Farm community that we’re growing here, together.  Have a lovely, warm Thanksgiving.

(Photos: Exodus Books and Delight for the Eyes)

Confession: I have looked at my smartphone, at a Facebook message, while in the midst of a conversation with another human being.  A live, in-person human interaction, and because they weren’t clicking “like” every time I made a statement, I felt the need to see that others WERE.

Psychology Today is so reassuring: I am an addict.  Yep. Recent research tells us “instead of dopamine causing you to experience pleasure … dopamine causes seeking behavior. Dopamine causes you to want, desire, seek out, and search. It increases your general level of arousal and your goal-directed behavior. From an evolutionary stand-point this is critical. The dopamine seeking system keeps you motivated to move through your world, learn, and survive. It’s not just about physical needs such as food, or sex, but also about abstract concepts. Dopamine makes you curious about ideas and fuels your searching for information. Research shows that it is the opioid system (separate from dopamine) that makes us feel pleasure.

“According to researcher Kent Berridge, these two systems, the “wanting” (dopamine) and the “liking” (opioid) are complementary. The wanting system propels you to action and the liking system makes you feel satisfied and therefore pause your seeking. If your seeking isn’t turned off at least for a little while, then you start to run in an endless loop. The dopamine system is stronger than the opioid system. You tend to seek more than you are satisfied. Evolution again — seeking is more likely to keep you alive than sitting around in a satisfied stupor.” (Psychology Today)

Seeking online things to keep us motivated can be a good thing, unless it interrupts real-life human interaction, which I see too often. Have you ever Instagrammed a hike in nature so thoroughly, you can’t actually remember looking at the trail, listening to the birds, freezing in your tracks to marvel at a butterfly’s color?

Like any addiction, the first step is admitting you have a problem, right?  So put down your phone. (Seriously. Put it DOWN. Turn it OFF.) It doesn’t have to be for a long time, especially as you start to wean yourself.  What can you do without a panic attack today?  An hour?  Two?  Fifteen minutes?

Remember when we didn’t have mobile phones, or when they were so unwieldy, we didn’t pop them in our pockets?  Reading the HuffPo’s “Habits of Supremely Happy People,” one may notice, obsessively refreshing social media is NOT listed.  However, appreciating the simple pleasures in life IS listed.

So let’s do this together.  Even if you’re reading this ON your phone, finish this paragraph, and then turn it off. Plan phone-free time with friends, or with your dog, or with nature. Pay attention to what you’re thankful for, the little things in life, like a cloud formation that looks like your second-grade school teacher’s beehive. Or the sound of silence, or the sound of your own breath, or the sound of a friend’s laugh.

And then, after it’s done, use social media for what it’s good for – share your moment with us, and encourage us all to unplug a bit, and find more happiness in the present.  @TheCityFarm

Photo: TheHeartoftheMatter.org

While the origins of Labor Day are a bit dark and depressing, what with American workers in the late 19^th century putting in 12-hour, 7-day weeks for little pay, their children out of school and at the mill, earning terribly low wages, today’s celebrations of our labor victories are light and heartening.  What are your favorite memories of Labor Days of yore?  I always dreamed of a family camp, like in “Dirty Dancing,” with summer romances ending with bittersweet goodbyes and awkward talent shows to send everyone off, back to the cities and desk jobs. 

In honor of taking a day off to celebrate a 40-hour work week with benefits, let’s look at what’s happening all around the U.S. this August 30^th – September 2nd: Labor Day weekend. Will you be lugging a watermelon to eat by the lake? Or are you staying in the city? Take a peek at city events along the west coast, starting up in the Northwest. (Yummm… coffee.)

Seattle, which was recently identified as the hardest working city in the U.S., clearly needs to take a break. If you’ll be in the area, take a look at this events calendar, which includes Bumbershoot, a weekend festival at the 74-acre Seattle Center., for your music, film, comedy, spoken word, dance, theatre, performance, and visual arts fix.

Portland, OR – PDX Pipeline will give you the info on all the goings-on, including movies in the park, bar trivia nights, and a beer garden on Alberta.

San Francisco – Need a yoga break before you go back to work? The SF Gate’s events list for the long weekend includes “Manifesting the Wisdom of the Body,” hosted in Sausalito.  If that’s too much zen, check out the Millbrae Art & Wine festival.

Los Angeles (and beyond) – TimeOut.com offers guides for almost every big city – will you be in Chicago, Boston, New York, or Paris this Labor Day? Angelenos, check out their calendar here to plan your Labor Day festivities – will you go to The Taste?  The (free!) Fiesta Hermosa? Or the L.A. County Fair?

How do you celebrate Labor Day? Leave a comment below or tweet a photo or story to us @TheCityFarm.

Photos: BlackLakeCabins.com, The818.com, and personal photo.