One afternoon last summer, some of Shel’s family came out to the farm for a visit. Her aunt, who is an artist down in Chicago, took some photographs while she was here. I didn’t think anything of it at the time, but, lo and behold, in the deepest, coldest part of last winter, she created some stunning watercolor paintings from those photos. In the frenzy of striving to grow food here, it is easy to lose sight of how beautiful this place is, but these paintings reminded me of my great good fortune to live and work here.