Saturday in the winds...

It was a long and productive day today. Peppered with light winds and sunshiney brilliance and cool temperatures. A good day to accomplish lots of manual labour.

We headed off to Carlinville, which is the county seat 'round these parts. It's a lovely town, actually, with a historic courthouse and central square. We headed for a nursery called Kahl's that also does a lot of landscaping and other stuff. As we took the drive in through the backroads, we saw a fox trotting along the edge of the woods, as well as several wild turkeys and a small herd of deer. It was delightful...the road we take there is called the Shipman Cutoff, and actually takes us less time than the other routes. By the time we left Kahl's, we were 60 dollars poorer and ready for some lunch. The good news is that I got a lot of stuff, including a 20 dollar gallon jug of fish emulsion fertilizer. It's my favorite fertilizer to use, but you can't hardly find it anymore. Well-now I know where I can get it!! WooHoo !! I also got marigolds, zinnias, sweet potatoes, rosemary, oregano, and a couple of other herbs. I bought marigolds in 3 colors: bright yellow, a beautiful orange, and a mix of dark orange and yellow. I use these to border my garden beds and interplant among some other plants, as they are a good deterrant to bugs. I still have nasturtium seeds to plant for the same reason. I got them all in the ground this afternoon. We planted corn and more beets, trellised the peas, planted okra and icicle radishes. Hubby and the neighbor hauled in 3 or 4 tractor scoops of leaf compost --really beautiful stuff!-- and we have to figure out where to plant the popcorn now. The gardens are looking really good. I'll try to get out there sometime tomorrow and get some new pictures.

Tomorrow will be a busy day. We have the usual Sunday morning meeting we go to and then a district meeting at 2 pm. I will be filling in for the secretary , so I hope I can keep up. Oh well--I'll do my best, and that'll have to be good enough, won't it?


I'm sure blessed by the simple life we live. The dogs were playing and swimming and running today, making me realize how much we could all learn from our pets about living in the moment. And don't get me started on the unconditional love!! lol

Being part of the cycle of life by gardening and feeding us with the products of our labour is a thing that has to be experienced to be understood. The connection I have with the earth and with my Creator on these days is beyond description. I have little moments of clarity, realizing that I am part of a great something, and I am blessed by it.

Mndfullness is a part of my existence today. I never want to return to those days of letting life slip through my fingers. never knowing what's happening or where I am. Missing all the magical moments that never come again. I am in love. In love with life, in love with myself, in love with the world and it's Creator.

Happy, Joyous and Free...what a way to be!

Namaste.

Suddenly Sunday...

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Criminey...these are me today...

And my hip is killing me and I may have to resort to a pain pill before going to bed. Last night I didn't sleep much at all...everytime I would have to turn over or shift, it was excruciating. It doesn't get like this too much anymore, and I rarely have to take the analgesics, but I guess crawling around under the truck the other day did a number on me.

I was talking to someone this afternoon about all the blessings that make us sit up and take notice, and how different they are from the blessings that we just take for granted. The ordinary blessings, the garden variety blessings. And how cool it is when something happens that makes us realize how much our lives are shaped by these things.

Like, I really got a first hand taste of how blessed we are when we have our health. When we can walk and work without pain. I will never be able to sit on the floor again. (For some goofy reason, that's a big one to me). I can't sit in chairs without a back on them for more than about 10 minutes. I can't lie in a hot bath...oh, I hate that...I cannot remember anymore, after 7.5 years, what it is like to not have chronic pain. To be able to stay on your feet for extended periods of time. To be able to sleep through the night. Little things.

Looking at our lives every day like everything is a miracle is an exercise in Beauty. It is an exercise in Hope. It is an exercise in Love.

Look around you. Pay attention. Practice the miracle of mindfulness.

Squeeze every drop out of every day...because you just never know.

Namaste.

A simple Saturday

...one of those days when you head out into the world a little skewed. My excuse was a bizarre dream that encompassed ipods and gangbangers and bratwurst sandwiches. AND a teenager who cleaned house. A BOY. lol...

Then the coffeemaker kept flipping the circuit breaker off. You know...one of those days.

Then the dear husband went outside, got a ladder, and started cleaning the gutters. All with NO nagging on my part! Surreal....


All in all, a simple day. Stayed home, didn't leave the homestead even for a minute. Had a couple of animal incidents, a dog with a thorny stick stuck between her teeth into the roof of her mouth, and one running little puppy who slid on the hardwood floor and bruised or strained something and is now limping on 3 legs. Most of the time. Sigh....they are both okay.

Watched the fog roll in this afternoon and it reminded me of living on the north coast of California, on Humboldt Bay, where the fog would roll in every day at precisely 4 PM. Looked around my yard and gardens, all resting comfortably. Watched the chickens out scratching in the yard, the dogs sliding through the big piles of leaves that we've put on the garden beds, and our resident hawk, a red tail, soar around looking for supper. Felt especially blessed to be here now, on this little piece of dirt, sober and happy and content.

Trying to learn to live better in the moment, to practice mindfulness, to honor the sacred in everything I see.



Namaste.