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“Let the waters settle and you will see the moon and stars mirrored in your own being. “
–Rumi
Dear Far-Flung Family & Friends:
I am alive and well despite my lack of digital communications. I’m having difficulty facing the screen when there is so much presently unfolding “out there” in multiple dimensions that is demanding attention. Nonetheless, I miss you! You really should come for a visit.
This month marks two years since we arrived at Peace. Love. Home. I continue to be awed everyday by the largest and smallest things. Eggs for instance appear daily, as if by magic, in the dog house. I could build a pyramid large enough for all four of the chickens to live in with the eggs they laid this month. How do all these eggs fit inside these fluffy feathered girls?
this is not even a quarter of my eggs in one basket
The chickens are comical in so many different ways. When I go around the barn to tend to the ducks, they try their hardest to spy on me. They cram themselves in the corner between the doghouse and the fence practically on top of each other as they vie for the best view. When I walk back around the corner into their line of vision, the chicken totem pole disbands and they scatter as if those nosy girls couldn’t possibly be interested at all in anything I could ever do.
Apparently, word has gotten out that this place is “bird friendly” because we’ve been visited recently by interloping fowl trying to figure out how to get IN on this domesticated action. The two wild mallards below have been touring the property regularly, checking out the ducks’ pen and the chickens’ digs.
Myrtle, Pearl, and Gertrude bow respectfully as they bid the interlopers adieu.
There’s also a lone Canadian goose who drops in to check everyone out. He wanders around in the mornings honking incessantly for hours at at time. One afternoon last week I spotted a coyote who was drawn in by all this birdy action.
Perfect strangers (of the human variety) have also dropped by this summer to share stories and cry at the kitchen table with me about things that matter, which turns out is quite a lot.
MooMoo’s forehead heart
I’m learning to be a “good” listener. These are the wonderful words I heard around the house this week…
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“Hello family!”
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“I can help.”
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“I feel better.”
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“I’m so glad we did this.”
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“I thought you needed a ‘poinsetter’…and here are those cookies I told you about.”
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“I love you.”
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“This has been the best day of my life.”
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What words have warmed your heart this week?
Ours is a little farm in the making. Bit by bit we’re unpacking, cleaning, rennovating, and planting.
The butternut squash is looking good
I’m so grateful for all the help we’ve had. Work has never been so fun. Friday morning the doorbell rang unexpectedly at 8 a.m. – and the day began with women doing messy yardwork to the beat of thunder in a warm summer rain. It was the best Friday morning I can remember in almost forever.
Saturday friends and family came to warm and bless our new home with their presence. It was a wonderful day full of fun, smiles, and surprises. And now we have even more to plant! There were so many unexpected gifts.
Once everything is placed, planted, and photographed I will assault you with pictures. For now, here are a few scenes from the weekend’s festivities…
The ever present Bean
Lisa, Lisa, Dave and Dave warmed the farm with a few feathered friends…
M R ducks!
Folks at the farmwarming party took it upon themselves to name the duckies: P. King is the fella in the water, P. Queen is the one standing across from him, head cocked at a jaunty angle. Kiki and Hiram are the brown feathered couple in the background.
Eventually, the place will be filled with Goaty Goodness — Beady Boop got me started with goat fence. Another friend is determined to give me a pig she can train in the name of science (as soon as we convince The Devil it’s a good idea…)
The Angry Russian spent the day installing tile in the cottage. Four friends fought over who would get to hire him next.
“You could totally start a business called Rent a Daddy” one said.
“…or Pimp My Dad” said another.
I told them all they’d better back up off my dad — he has to finish my cottage first!
Mike found the Devil in the livingroom with his conservative grandmother, parents and aunt. “Here’s a little something for tonight….” he said with a sly smile and wink as he presented the Devil with a gift in a Victoria Secrets bag. It was a DVD of The Money Pit. So appropriate!
Thanks to everyone for making my home and weekend so happy!
These are my bloggin’ panties and I’m not afraid to use them.
Secrets can take many forms — they can be shocking, or silly, or soulful….[They] can remind us of the countless human dramas, of frailty and heroism playing out silently in the lives of people all around us.
–Frank Warren
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We interrupt the regularly scheduled programming to offer a preview of coming attractions. “Ashram Lessons” shall resume after this brief message about Life in the Luny Bin…
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The Devil and I have had a very busy three weeks. We’ve sold a house, “bought the farm,” moved in, and have started making it home.
Pupskins (aka Nilla Bean) “helping”
Moving is such a simple word to describe the mayhem involved in dismantling a life.
We have spent countless hours critically examining the value of every possession we have collected over the last 18 years and purging what is no longer needed. We passed through the phase of organizing, labeling, and boxing, boxing, boxing stuff until we finally just started throwing things willy-nilly into boxes and bags at the last minute (oh the violence!). Then came the phase of unboxing followed by another round of purging. We wondered where all this stuff came from, then decided to purge some more. Some of our stuff was dropped and broken. Some of our stuff was crushed and broken by still other stuff. Some stuff was water damaged in “The Great Flood.” We’re still trying to figure out where some stuff goes, while some stuff just went missing.
I have spent so much time looking for ‘that thing I put in that one box’ that this has become my new theme song:
….and the craziest part? We’re still not done moving! I have a whole life in another state left to dismantle! Wash, rinse, repeat.
There are so many stories on this end to share about it all, but they will come later….Today’s post is on secrets.
In the midst of the chaos the rare opportunity arose to meet a friend I’ve had for years. This friend has lived in Japan for the duration of our acquaintance, so we’ve never met face-to-face. His was a short, but intensely fun visit. It’s strange what you learn about yourself when entertaining house guests. Things you normally find invisible about your life are brought into focus through the lens of another’s eye.
“Tofu and flax seed…” he said.
At my confused expression he added, “That’s what’s on the top shelf in your fridge.”
Who knew? I open the fridge everyday and don’t see this.
The Indentured Servant told him a secret of mine, “She burps the President’s name all the time —- ‘BAAAAARRRRAAAACCCK!'”
Disgusting, but true. Not something I was planning to share, but what can I say? I’m a proud supporter.
The whole experience got me thinking about the everyday secrets we keep in our underwear drawers, in our fridges, in our digestive expulsions. This train of thought led to Frank Warren’s collection of half a million secrets. Frank is a blogger who began his blog after handing out self-addressed postcards and soliciting secrets from people on the street in Washington. He posts them anonymously on his blog postsecret.com. His Ted Talk is worth watching!
So now that you know a few of my everyday secrets, do you have one to share? Feel free.
My Little Spacebook 