Andy set up the camera in the frigid morning air. 

Andre is a towering presence, well over 6 feet with a shaved head and a long deliberate black beard. He's born in Lebanon, I recall, and grew up in Colorado. 

Chores started out a bit hectic, perhaps because the sometimes awkward injection of a recording device. First, a tractor lifted a barrel full of old tacos from EVOL, a burrito company, that are good eating for pigs. Then, Andre, Steve and some of Steve's friends, Austen and Elias, attempted to put a ton of grain into the silo where the ducks live. It was a bit of an odd process, with the hand pulled generator being stubborn in the cold. The tractor picked up a massive white canvas bag filled with feed, and lifted it ten feet above the ground. From there, they tried to get the grain onto a conveyor belt which was jury-rigged with a five gallon bucket and some aluminum siding. After slow progress, Andre took a knife and cut into the base of the white canvas bag, thereby greatly speeding up the process of getting the feed onto the belt. 

From there we loaded into a truck and headed over to a leased property nearby. The crew of young farmers' goal was to fix some old fencing. Andre showed the calm poise of a natural leader before the work started. He said, we've gotten off to a hectic start this morning, and I want to restart, to start fresh. He mentioned that he is a Christian, and that everyone there should join him in a prayer. He said grace and thanks, thanks for the land that they were being leased, for the ability of them to work the land, and prayed and asked for a safe day of work. The prayer helped everyone work better, with a renewed sense of purpose. Andy filmed, and I did my best to keep out of the shot, often sprinting behind a truck, or a tree so as to keep out of view. At one point, I lied down, back in the snow and stared up into the blue sky and closed my eyes. 

Around 10am, the work on the fence ceased and we had the good fortune to be invited into Andre's home for breakfast with his wife Vanee, and their three beautiful sons. She cooked up sausage, made on the farm, potato soup, sauerkraut from the neighbors, and some sauteed vegetables. It was phenomenal. Before eating, we spun an arrow and whoever it pointed to, said grace. By providence, it landed on Andre and he said a prayer honoring the moment, the food, and the blessing to be in the company of the children, who bring such joy. The food was so good, it was hard to stop eating, and we almost overstayed our welcome when asked about lunch. 

Andre managed to hold all three sons at once, in his massive frame, reading from a Dr. Seuss book, as Steve talked with Elias, Aaron and Austen about the coming days and months. There are few moments on the trip where we wanted to get into farming ourselves, more than the time we spent at Jacob Springs Farm. 

We filmed the interview in the open face of a steel barn, removing some clutter from the ground before starting. Andre is a long-winded thinker, and talked about his unique path into agriculture. How he always knew from a young age that he wanted to farm, and how he used to go alone to the livestock shows, because he was so interested. He spoke with charisma about how we as a culture need to move to supportive communities, communities that are more resembling the groups of religious brethren who sailed across the Atlantic to avoid religious persecution. We can learn from the tight-knit communities of people like the Mennonites, in which the concept of the individual is secondary to the importance of the whole group of people. 

We said goodbyes and thankyous and headed West to Breckenridge to visit and ski with Chris and his niece Brooke, a wonderful couple of days with friends, food and a lot of sore muscles.