9.1.16 Which made all parched growing things smile

Last night we had a small pattering of rain, the first in weeks, which made all parched growing things smile.

 

9.1.16 I love

how those we love and are loved by 

remain tucked in our hearts forever. 







A small precious bit of





 immortality.

9.1.16 For All Things Jaime

Last night, as a welcome small rain pattered upon all dry things here on into the morning... 

as the deer roamed in the darkness til they came to feed in the lower field come dawn... 

as the glorious wild turkeys took their rest high in the old Oaks 

until daylight wakened them and brought them to their breakfast in the meadows 

we all share here.... 

while my husband and I lay sleeping in this ending of summertimes. 

As all those things were happening here, and so many were happening where you make your home, an old friend of his came to the end of his life.

He ran into Jaime at Dana Farber, an unusual reunion after so many years passing of one's life. His friend had married and had a beautiful son, just as ours were moving off onto their own.

So they got to see each other several times and email and laugh and share the macabre humor necessary for those with cancer . And speak about old things and share about recent things and talk about how it was for each of them, with this big big condition. 

Early this morning we both woke, and as the dog was put out on the rope , three does were peacefully feeding far down in the fields , with the welcome small rain falling upon all our heads and nourishing the parched earth.

As the wild turkey took flight, the rich reds and browns and black all resplendent in the early morning light .

 

8.31.16 All we need to do is get ourselves there

     I've been waking anxious, and the closer it gets to morning, the more round and round my mind is uselessly going, with concerns. 
     Sometimes when this happens, I close my eyes and picture someone literally spinning round in a circle til they fall over, dizzy. Makes me laugh.
     So last night I sat just before bed and read the Thich Nhat Hanh pages, just two. Not too many words . Breathing vigorous inhale and exhale as I read, vigorously pushing the outbreath out. Beginning with:
     Breathing in, I know I am breathing in.
     Breathing out, I know I am breathing out.
     This morning when I woke, the anxiety, about our challenges here (like all challenges everywhere), was less.          Markedly. Wow.
     I lay on my bed and found a Jon Kabot Zinn Mindscape video on YouTube, lay down instead of the advised sitting up, and listened.
     I dropped off and woke back up, my mind wandered and came back , and when it was over, I felt so much better. Funny thing, these tools. 

     All we need to do is get ourselves there

 

8.31.16 Who are you

     I was inside resting, after taking care of garden plants outside. The 5 crow siblings were going on and on and on. It was dusk, 7 pm, and usually they and all other crows have been long gone to their roosts by now.
     I suddenly realized ( Silly human) that they were all calling and calling someone. 
     Then I realized the someone they were calling was ... me. 
     So I got up, filled a water jug, grabbed the compost, and headed out. 
     There they were, all crowded together high in the Aspen, and their admonishment paused when I left the house.
     I called to them , while they watched and waited, while I spread our compost neatly into five piles of goodies , scrubbed out the water with my fingers , and refilled it with fresh water.
     I also have water for wildlife other more hidden places, because it's becoming a real problem around here.
     Went back in as the five young ones, satisfied, flew on over for a late dinner.

 

8.31.16 New bear territory message, it seems.

Get a load of the bear scraping on the left. I wonder what position they were in , to scrape like that.
This rock has been a bear message spot for so many years, one scent after another after another. Can you imagine all the bears coming by to sniff or scratch or sleep?

8.31.16 Now is the time

Last night it became evident the Coyote have returned from their far out summer camps , away from humans during the plentiful summer months. Around 3 am,there were perhaps five different voices, growling and barking and tipping and howling. 

Around here, the packs are small- maybe the breeding couple, a pup or two if they survive, and perhaps a grown pup from the previous year. 

But pups grow up and acquire mates, and sometimes vie for prized territory. 

Other times, they have a more significant kill, and growl and yip in celebration as they feed and have feeding skirmishes. 

Sometimes upon returning to the fall/winter/spring camps, they howl and jockey for dominance, calling out to all of us that they are here, that this is their place. 

Now is the time that foxes take heed, as their predator-free season of breeding and feeding comes to an abrupt close. They rearrange their living situation closer than ever to humans, to deter the reach of coyote come winter.