Harvest Moon Anton’s Diary: Year 1 Summer Part I

Day 1
A quiet day to begin summer; I was supposed to attend a swimming contest of some sort, but since I have never liked swimming, I chose to skip out on it in favour of preparing my plots of land for a profitable summer. The long hours on the farm have given me time to think, however, and I must admit that I am beginning to question the very nature of my existence. What if nothing actually exists beyond the confines of Mineral Town? What proof do I have that my life did not begin the day I took control of this farm? Even my childhood memories could have been invented, for I have no keepsakes or mementos from those years.

If this is the case, then leaving the town may not be the escape I dream of, but simply the end of my life. With that in mind, perhaps I must start interacting with the villagers; who knows, if I manipulate them well enough, perhaps I can transform this hellish existence into something more pleasing.

Jade has become a full chicken today; only Opal remains.

Day 2
Although I have since learned that Pink Cats are flowers rather than actual cats, I have nonetheless planted my seeds, along with pineapples, to mark the start of the new season. My gold watering can will enable watering to take place in a mere fraction of the time it did before, leaving me plenty of the day left over for villager manipulation and livestock care. Unfortunately, despite my intention to upgrade the chicken shed today, it has come to my attention that what I thought was pointless firewood is actually valuable lumber, and that I need about 300 more pieces than I have. Life shall be about lumber from now on, and no longer shall I curse the magically re-growing stumps that enable me to gather an infinite amount.

Day 3
Why is my body so puny and weak? If I want to upgrade my chicken shed, I must gather as much lumber as possible, but even as chop down the stumps, I become tired and have to stop to bathe in the hot springs.

Today was Popuri’s birthday, and so I decided to win her heart by giving her some free Pink Cat flowers. Unfortunately, I blew it outside when I suggested she stay in the village instead of pursuing her dream to leave; I thought she would appreciate the sentiment of being asked to stay, but now I fear that she will be more attracted to that annoying Kai. It is not as if I even like Popuri, but playing with her affections will offer an interesting diversion.

Day 4
Today I was finally able to buy some Tomato and Corn seeds from the shop; now the season’s planting can truly begin, and with it, endless watering and harvesting looms. I am continue to charm Popuri, but after yesterday’s misstep, I have little hope of getting past black heart status any time soon.

Despite the ever increasing burden of tasks for each day, I must dedicate my evenings to chopping lumber for my chicken shed extension. I am unsure why I need more chickens, however; with Opal now mature I already have my hands full caring for five.

Day 5
Even by the standards of my miserable life, today went poorly. First, in my haste to ship eggs (practically my only source of income until my seeds actually sprout), I managed to smash one on the floor, and I almost forgot to feed the chickens altogether! Then, when collecting Red Grass, I offered one to Popuri, only to discover that she dislikes them; I tried to regain some ground by giving her more Pink Cat flowers, but in my impatience I managed to throw one of those on the floor too.

In an effort to forget about my woes, I spent the rest of the day chopping more lumber. It is tiring work, but I desperately need to extend not only my chicken coop, but my house itself. At this rate, I am going to be terribly behind.

Day 6
Today I decided to get an early start with the lumber in the hopes of catching Popuri whilst I worked (how could she not fall for my manly physique as I chopped wood?). Unfortunately, she did not show up today, but whilst cutting down wood on Mother Hill, I came across a patch of Pink Cat flowers which I can use to win her heart. I also received a berry from a talking tree which did not want to be cut down; this is a somewhat bizarre event, and only heightens my unease as to the true nature of this world.

Tomorrow is the Sumo Chicken festival; for once I shall socialise with the hated villagers and actually attend.

Day 7
After a productive morning spent chopping lumber, I decided to attend the Sumo Chicken festival in order to prove my superiority to the villagers; unfortunately, my plan went hideously wrong when my chicken went out in the first round. Despite this setback, I was forced to remain at the festival until 6pm, carrying my chicken in my arms like an idiot. At least my pineapples have sprouted, even if they will not produce fruit for a while yet.

Day 8
This morning, I was awoken first thing by the sound of Ann coming over to visit; at first, I wondered if my charms had begun to win her over, but as it turns out, all she wants is for me to deliver three eggs to the Inn every day. I suppose I am getting paid for it, but this isn’t how it is supposed to work- the villagers should be working for me, not the other way around! Anyway, in the interests of raising some cash, I agreed to do so, before turning my attention to the ever present task of chopping lumber. Although I refuse to buy lumber from Gotz when it is so readily available, my efforts have almost yielded enough for the henhouse expansion.

Meanwhile, I have managed to get Popuri to purple heart level by constantly giving her Pink Cat flowers. I am still unsure whether love is a path I want to pursue, but I may as well get the groundwork in place anyway.

Day 9
My Pink Cat flowers have bloomed, and thanks to them, a beehive has magically appeared in my tree. Having heard rumours that taking honey to Louis makes the rest of the harvest more valuable, I did just that, but I cannot help feeling that it is the old man’s way of getting free honey. I also spent a large chunk of my hard-earned savings on the long-awaited henhouse expansion; I’d like to think this means my lumber chopping days are over, but I am well aware that I should continue stockpiling for my next expansion (damn you, lumber!). At least my axe is getting a good workout, as are my puny limbs.

Once the afternoon rolled around, I went over the inn to deliver the eggs to Ann before heading home to take care of the watering. By evening, there was little left to do, and so I decided to make some quick cash by digging in the mine. It is fortunate that there are 10G sacks of money just lying around in the mine, as well as ores which I plan to sell for some ready cash.

Day 10
I must admit that I was a bit too swift to malign Louis, for whilst he did trespass on my land this morning, it was only to tell me that my bees are a rare species and that the honey they produce is thus marginally more valuable.

Other than this diversion, the day proceeded much as yesterday; the morning was taken up with chopping lumber before stopping to take the eggs to Ann. Afternoons are occupied with watering, before a quick dip in the hot springs and a profitable trip to the mines. Since I still needed to work off some energy before bedtime, I tackled a portion of the encroaching weed problem and found my dog for the first time in days before heading to bed. Unless something exciting happens, tomorrow will be more of the same.

Day 11
As predicted, today’s schedule followed the pattern set by the last two days; if not for the fact that my tomatoes are coming along nicely, I think the monotony of it all would have long since killed me. I had a brief flirtation with the idea of raising and selling chickens for profit, but I fear this will turn out to be more troublesome than merely keeping my chickens and selling their eggs. Some might say that I have simply become too attached to my existing chickens, and perhaps I have, for unlike women, they do not need continual gifts.

Day 12
This morning I thought I would make my latest attempt to gain the Fishing Rod, but even as I headed down to the docks, the Mayor accosted me and told me that as it was the day of the Tomato Festival, I could only access the town square for festival related activities. Since I have no interest in such a pointless festival, I went back home and followed the established daily schedule- I even went to the Inn to see if Ann needed the daily amount of eggs, but predictably it was locked.

I must also note that I unearthed a berry in the mine; despite its dusty condition I immediately ate it, and feel like I have been blessed with additional strength to help me get through this tedium.

Day 13
At long last, the first crop of tomatoes has ripened, and although I cannot reach the ones in the middle of my 3×3 plantings, a productive morning was spent harvesting the others. The rest of the day was spent following the normal routine, although now that Gotz has finished the henhouse expansion I was careful to incubate two more eggs. It has been a while since the peeping of tiny chicks was heard, and I look forward to revisiting those happy days.

Ann is still having me deliver eggs to the Inn; I must admit that the pay is good, but how I long will I have to play delivery boy?

Day 14
Aside from some more tomatoes, today followed the by-now well-established routine, although as per my new ‘no love’ stance, I did not bother to give any flowers to Popuri this morning; after all, do I really want to be trapped in a loveless marriage? That being said, to my surprise, Ann has also reached purple heart level thanks to my errand boy duties, but I had to agree with her when she said that she was too young for marriage, for it is exactly how I feel. How could I ever get into a romantic relationship with a girl who looks to be no more than twelve years old, if that?

Day 15
With each passing day, I live in hope that something will happen to change the routine I have fallen into, but unfortunately nothing ever does- and if it did, I am sure it would only serve to make my life worse. Although I am pleased to see that my corn is coming along nicely, there is still no end in sight to my egg delivering duties, whilst I have begun working myself to near exhaustion in the mines just to distract myself from the futility of my existence.