How Green Becomes Wood

"They're good enough," Cooger replied, getting in line for the hot chocolate, "It's meant to support, you know, families and whatever, so it's meant to be good enough."

At the booth, he got a large hot chocolate with whipped cream, marshmallow, and peppermint and let the twins order whatever they liked. Unlike his brother, he had no problems with anything being too sweet.
 
Alec got an extravagant hot chocolate, loving every bit of it. Xander stuck to something a little more simple with cinnamon and whipped topping, but he stole one of Alec's marshmallows when he wasn't looking. Xander then stood watching the horses while Alec studied the decorations that surrounded them while they waited for their turn on the ride.
 
Since the ride was designed to help patrons more quickly navigate the tree farm, it functioned in a hop-on, hop-off fashion with a number of wagons riding at once. This meant they didn't have a long wait and soon enough were allowed to board the jingling wagon.

They weren't the only ones aboard since it was a large wagon pulled by tall draft horses, but there weren't so many people as to be crowded.
 
"This is really cool!" Alec grinned, climbing up into the wagon. "No wonder you like stuff like this. Do you think you'll ever have a wagon?"

Xander settled down carefully with his hot chocolate, choosing to sit between Alec and Cooger since the odds of bumping into a stranger sitting next to him was still moderately high. "Nah, but I have thought of like a carriage or a buggy."

"Very cute," Alec told him.
 
"When I was first planning the homestead, I considered getting a horse, but decided against it because I didn't want to have to cut down enough land to build a sufficient paddock. Anyway, I'd use the fella for hauling while on the homestead moreso than trail riding, and my garden's close enough it ain't necessary. Even when I'm hauling firewood, my wheelbarrow is sufficient."
 
"Makes sense," Xander agreed, licking off some whipped topping. "I learned something interesting about paddocks. You know thos grassy rectangles that look kind of like lawns and have nothing interesting in them? Yeah, those are rich people aesthetics for race horses and fancy, super expensive breeds. Horses don't mind trees, trees are good for shade and stuff, and having not-flat terrain is actually pretty helpful for them in learning how to navigate and use their muscles. Especially if you don't do a bunch of trail riding and stuff where they'd come across it."

"Random, but interesting," Alec told him.
 
Xander snorted. "Casually. You already said you don't have much use for one, why would I try to convince you to get one?" He paused thoughtfully. "Unless you didn't mind someone coming by to visit mostly for the horse."
 
Shaking his head, he leaned with his arms on the back of the bench and said, "Uncle Cooger, I know you've got your draft-horse, but horses really do better with friends, and it'd be real neat if you got a horse who does trails well."
 
"Sounds like a good argument," Xander nodded. "And there are smaller draft horses, too. They aren't all massively huge like Big John."

"I like the big ones. They seem a lot more willing to watch where they are going," Alec said brightly.
 
"Unfortunately for you, I ain't got horse money," Cooger replied with a shrug, "'Specially not two horse money. The garden is going to be real good this year, though, I'll tell you that. I've been working hard."
 
"Nice," Xander nodded. "That's pretty cool."

Alec tried to say something, but he had to finish his marshmallow first. "Are you going to ask Lex to help you with your harvest?"
 
"I wasn't really planning on it," Cooger said, looking at Alec, "Most of the plants aren't ready to pick all at once, so I don't usually need help. I'll probably give her some of the extra, though, like how your Mom and I trade her fruit for my vegetables."
 
"That's a shame," Alec mused.

Xander frowned at him. "Why would it be a shame that he's got a managably sized garden? Anyway, what's left to pick and stuff with snow on the ground?"
 
"Nothing, but I've been doing the prep work. Ordering seeds, readying my equipment to germinate the seeds, planning layouts. And I've been canning and pickling. Started fermenting, actually. I've been looking into getting a rooster."
 
"Fermenting?" Xander asked, confused. Then he nudged Alec and pointed. "Hey, look at that!"

"Cool!" Alec grinned, studying the small but intricate light display as they passed it. "Why do you want a rooster? It'll peck at you and fly at you and all sorts of stuff."
 
"Keeping a rooster also means the flock is self-sustaining," Cooger pointed out, "I've got six chickens right now, I figure I can build up a second pen with their daughters and get about twelve. Then get a second rooster for that half of the flock. I won't be constantly breeding, but if I do enough rotations, I'll not need to buy more chickens when mine grow out of the egg-laying stages. Plus, rooster's keep the hens happier, so we get more eggs anyway."
 
"I have so many questions that I don't actually want to ask while on a hay ride," Alec said slowly. "Or a hayless ride, I suppose." He looked up. "Look! You can see the moon!"
 
Cooger chuckled and looked upwards, "Dumb moon, doesn't it know it's day?" He glanced towards the horses, "You know what's funny? These jingle bells keep making me think Ivy is around. They keep tickling some part of my brain."
 
"That's what it keeps reminding me of!" Xander exclaimed. "I kept thinking something seemed familiar, but I couldn't put my finger on it."

Alec grinned. "These horses are more rhythmic than Ivy, though."
 
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