Monday, May 26, 2008

Today

Today is Memorial Day. Today is a vacation day. Today is a gift.

I do not know where to start because I have gotten so far behind in my blogging. I want to write about everything that has happened since my last post and yet, I think today is what is important.

Today is a gift. It is ours to use for whatever we want. We do not have to get up early to go to work. We can take pictures of the chicks and e-mail them to friends. We can drink a cup of coffee while wondering around the yard in our bathrobe listening to the birds singing. We can work on the list of things that need to be done - or we can spend the afternoon at the river reading a book.

What are you doing with the gift of your Memorial Day?

Friday, April 18, 2008

Rain

Last night as I was driving home in the dark, the train lights began signaling an upcoming train, so I was the first in line to watch the show. Since the gasoline in my tank was low, I shut off my car to wait. I could feel and hear the rumbling of the train as it progressed in front of me. Almost as soon as the train started across the road, the rain started up again. The raindrops hit the passenger side of my car and sent ribbons of rain across the windshield as the wind was driving the raindrops sideways. The intensity of the rain on the roof picked up as the train rumbled through the intersection. The combination of the two sounds and the vibration of the road created a wonderful rhythm of machinery and nature in concert together. While rain is not my favorite weather condition, this experience helped me appreciate the value of rain. I hope you find time to enjoy the sound of rain in your next encounter.

Saturday, April 12, 2008

Chickens

Please let this serve as an introduction to our chickens. The Wyandotte in the front (black and white) is Alice. The other two Wyandotte's are also named Alice - but they are not in this photo. They are fearless. As soon as the door is open in the morning, they are outside - rain, snow, cold, hot - it doesn't matter.

The black chickens are named "Pip." They are the background cluckers to our light colored Turken named Gladys (you remember Gladys Knight and the Pips?") Gladys is way in the back of this photo. Turkens do not have neck feathers - so look for the red neck in the back.

The dark red chickens are called "Penny." Sometimes we also call the buff colored hens "Penny" as well. And then there's Ethel, the yellow chicken in the back of the picture next to the building. Ethel came to us last year with very few tail feathers and she still doesn't have many. We think she is an egg laying machine though.



Rocky is one of our three roosters. He is a Barred Rock breed. We took this picture of him last summer. Right now he is coming out of a winter molt so he doesn't look this good. Rocky and Sly were the two roosters that survived the dog attack last summer. They have a pretty good chance of surviving the butchering knife because they're survivers - get it? - Rocky and Sly? Sly's comb got frozen this winter and all of the tips broke off. He looks like he has a mohawk right now - so his picture (below) is also from last summer. We have one other rooster who is a Wyandotte. His name is Chester.


Today is moving preparation day. Currently we have 56 chickens - 53 hens and 3 roosters. Everyone will be moving to the back building so we can get the hexagon house ready for the baby chicks who will be arriving on Monday, 4/21, via the U.S. Postal Service. Now there's a story you won't want to miss....




Hope you enjoyed meeting our chickens. Come back soon y'all.

Thursday, March 6, 2008

Morning

Morning: The first or early part of the day. It happens to be my favorite part of the day. I am at my best when I have done my morning process: wake up, have coffee, workout, shower, and dress for the day. It is then that I am most fully awake, have the most brain power, the most creativity, and the most optimistic viewpoint.

In this current phase of my life, my mornings are spent preparing to go to my job.

Job: Any definite work undertaken in gross, especially for a fixed price.

While I like my job, it is not the best part of me - yet I spend the best part of my day preparing for my job. In this lenten season, it is a good time to consider the way we've always done things. I am rethinking the way I spend my mornings.

Good morning. I hope you have time today to consider that which is most important to you.

Sunday, March 2, 2008

Sunrise

Some of my friends do not get to see the sunrise - so thought I would share an image of a country sunrise for you...

Migrating Geese

Not only were we blessed with a beautiful springlike day yesterday, but we were also blessed with having visitors - thousands of visitors staying in the melted snow pond half a mile east and south of our house. During the day we heard and saw many gaggles of geese (snows, Canadians and Blues) flying around and over our place. They settled in the fields around us enjoying the spilled corn and soybeans from the fall harvest. As the sun went down, we noticed the geese honking and flocking toward the field behind the old schoolhouse down the road. We used our binoculars to watch them settle in the snow pond - some of them making quite a splash as they landed in the water.

This morning, I bundled up and took my coffee down to see the geese before the sunrise. I found a place to sit across the road where I could see the entire snow pond. As the sun started to rise, the entire sky lightened from darkness to lightness and the honking and quacking from the geese and ducks continued to get louder and louder. As the sun hit the horizon, the sky turned from pink to orange and the birds proceeded to bathe, eat, and prepare for their day.

The liftoff started with two geese taking off and heading north over my head. About 10-15 minutes later, about 100 geese took off, splitting into four groups as they flew northeast. By now, the sun was a huge orange ball above the horizon and the geese were really talking. Many flocks of ducks had been circling over and around the pond in groups of ten to forty. By now, most of the geese had walked out of the water and were eating off of the ground. Their conversations were vivid. They were awake and ready to start the day and the anticipation was heavy in the air. Suddenly, the geese at the south end of the pond lifted up into the sky and behind them were the rest of the geese - forming a blanket of geese above the pond and filling the air with thousands of wing beats and honking geese. The sound was thick, heavy and sent goose bumps down your back. It was absolutely awe inspiring. The geese headed North East and eventually broke into groups as they flew out of my line of vision, their honking and wing beats growing lighter as they traveled.

Nature provides us with so many shows that few human beings get to witness. As I sat there, two planes full of people flew over our head, oblivious to the show below them. The farmhouses to the right and left of me were dark with sleeping humans. The camera I brought with me had a dead battery so the only vision of this spectacular show is through my story. I hope I was able to capture some of the wonder for you.

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Did you see the sunrise?

Did you see the sunrise this morning? It was very pretty. A lovely pinkish orange pastel sunrise with a few long medium blue/grey clouds stretching across the horizon. The colors were a lovely background for the outlined trees on the hilltops as I drove into town this morning. Once the sun peeked over the horizon, the brilliance of the sun reflected off the sides of the buildings and bridges as I drove along the freeway creating an illusion of warmth - creating hope for a sunny day.

Now - the sunrise today was NOTHING compared to the sunrise we had last week. That was a sunrise. Flaming reds, bright oranges, and dark fuschia pinks covered the horizon and spread half way up the sky until the colors turned to brilliant shades of lavender and blue. As the sun rose, the colors shifted and changed - a beautiful piece of living art that will never be recreated - ever again. The outlined trees on the hilltops looked like a painter's dream with a drama of color in the sky behind them. It was a sunrise that made you stare. A sunrise you call you daughter about and say, "I ordered that special for you." A kind of sunrise you go back into the house to tell your Mom that she should step outside and look at the sunrise. It was spectacular.

Usually though, we get sunrises like we had this morning. Pretty. Pastel. Hopeful and restful. Today is just a Tuesday. Did you see the sunrise?

Sunday, February 17, 2008

Winter mornings in the country

The wind is gusting outside. It is dark and cold. The windows of the chicken houses glow from the red warming lights. Tree branches wave in front of the chicken houses confirming the sound of the wind.

Inside, the antique wood stove has warmed the front room to 74 degrees. The kitties are happy to lay on the quilt on my lap as I read a book about Alaska. The first pot of coffee is almost gone. I have another hour to read before my husband wakes - so I can finish this pot of coffee and have a fresh pot for us after the sun rises.

Winter in the country. A time to rest. A time to look at the seed catalogues as they arrive in the mailbox. A time to reflect on what is good and what is not. A time to make plans. Time. Winter. Cold. Wind. Rest.

Thursday, February 14, 2008

Happy Valentine's Day

I woke up early this morning thinking about my friends on Valentine's Day. New friends, old friends that I don't see anymore-but think about often, friends who moved to other states-but we still stay in touch via cell phone and e-mail, my husband, my sisters, my Mom, my aunt, golf friends, yoga friends, high school friends, college friends, a friend who lost her Mom this year, previous co-workers, new co-workers and then there are the friends who fit in multiple categories...they are truly special.

I have friends (OK - 1 friend) who knows me well enough to tell me when I'm being stupid and then there are my friends who teach me in more subtle ways.

I have my new yoga friends (students in my classes) who are becoming my friends. I know some of them by name, I know others more deeply, and there are those who are yet to be developed as friends. They are teaching me to be a better teacher and they have no idea how much they mean to me. There are many nights when I would rather go home and collapse after a long day at work but I go - I teach - and I walk away feeling like a Queen because I get hugs, I get thank you's, I get "I liked the music tonight," I get questions, I get feedback. I get so much as I receive the many positive vibrations.

I am so blessed to be surrounded by people who are talented, bright, intelligent, and who like me. That is the part that woke me up early and made me think of the riches in my life. What an incredible place we live in where people are brought together who enrich our lives by becoming a friend. I have a new friend who might say that I sent this request out into the universe, and this is my gift. Wow - what a fabulous universe.

I believe that my friends are a result of my philosophy that for every action there is an equal re-action. My intention is to be a positive link in the chain link effect - to honor and respect others so people feel good about themselves and can pass that feeling on to the people in their lives. The chain link effect can also be negative and is easier to explain. Example: If I am mean or rude to "Person A" during the day, Person A will probably get mad and bring that frustration to people in his/her life that day. In a chain-link effect, Person A's frustration will trickle down to others (Person B's) and Person B's likewise will trickle down to Person C's, etc, etc, etc.

While I don't believe that I am the cause and effect of all of the negativity in our world, I do feel that the chain link effect of negativity is portrayed on the news stories about the violence in our world. Wouldn't it be easier (and better) to treat each other with respect and honor so that the chain link effect goes up in a positive way instead of affecting each other negatively?

But I have digressed and I need to start my day - so I close by thanking all of you who are my friends. Happy Valentine's Day.

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Wisdom in Small Bits

How odd it is to be writing for the public. This has been my dream for all of my lifetime. In 1979 this would not have been possible - yet here I am in 2008 - behind the times because this is my first blog. Yet - I have done it and now I have to go to the gym. There are only so many minutes in the day and this is my time to take care of my body. See you later.