Cheers!

               This is how I celebrate a new year!  

reflecting back...looking forward

                This is the view of our little orchard.  

if you wish

Often, as I walk up to the house from the barn, I look up to the night sky laid out above me. Always I seek certain constellations that have meaning....three stars in a row for the three Wind girls - me & my sisters. And then, just like a child, I search for a wishing star, one that you just know will take your secret wish into its heart. I stand out in the dark and cast out my wish, watching it float up and away.

As I get older, I find I wish for less, and rarely for myself. My wishes have become more focused
- little prayers I send up to that chosen star, send out to the world on the back of a dandelion seed, or say over & over in the quiet of night.

I don't tend to make resolutions.....I go straight for the wish route. And with a pinch of good will & a fair amount of dirt under the nails, I have seen them come true.

morning has broken, like the first morning

Call me content....
We had major tree work completed on the farm Tuesday...4 trees needed to come down. Thursday will be trimming of all the other trees & the final clean up of the gigantic cottonwood that was brought down in the wind last fall. My gardens are almost planted.....added little boo pumpkins & gourds. The new kittens climbed out of the nesting box last night and slept right out in the big barn -- they looked ever so proud this morning when a "worried Kari" scurried out at sun up to check on them. Another gorgeous day awaits....and here is where I sit, coffee and a review of where an antique adventure might await this long weekend approaching. Hmmm, an auction would be fun. My silly case of sun poisoning ( yes, all is never perfect) is subsiding-----so I will gather my sunscreen, ads., and thoughts--and maybe head out, or maybe just enjoy the porch or deck. Morning has broken, and I greet it warmly.

How about you.....where will Memorial Day weekend find you?

bluebird

Just a flit of blue caught our eye....

and there he was, a male bluebird

darting into this bird house on the side of our potting shed.

Dave has worked to bring the bluebirds to our farm.

Adding more homes each year, clearing out the old nests...

wishing, wishing, wishing.

And arrive they have.

Two pair - one here, one in a house Dave made

and added to the side of a tree.

They do like the houses that open eastward.

I hope that it is true that when a bluebird crosses your

path, it is happiness they bring with them.

be in the moment

I recently received my April-May copy of Mary Janes Farm...with the theme for many articles - "smitten". Today I took a moment to look through it, and found the following excerpt from an article, "Smitten by a Farm" by Victoria Strauser: "I saw my first fireflies at the farm, and thought it must be a magical place for something so beautiful to choose to live there." Be in the moment, I said to myself. Last night as I tucked in the goats for the night, I came out of the barn to bird song...back again. Be in the moment, I said to myself. This morning I found two little girl kittens asleep on the porch, wrapped in each other's little arms. Be in the moment, I said to myself. We all collect magical moments when we are smitten. Perhaps they are songs from the tree tops, fireflies in the meadow or a soft loving look...and we know for that one moment all is indeed right in our world.

picture credit

compromise

I've been thinking a bit about this word lately...wondering if in the end, the only way we ever ever have "win win" is with compromise.  We each do the "give & take dance of life" -- standing firm sometimes, bending with the wind sometimes, saying "sure" sometimes.  It is really what we do - right? 

My two male unfixed tom cats - brothers mind you, have had a little debacle over who is the king of this farm.  Don't let their sweet names (Marmalade & Cinnamon) or their sweet disposition when in my arms fool you -- this was a battle.  In the end, they both decided that they could both rule -- taking turns by day -- with Marmalade as King of Meadowview Farm and Cinnamon as Prince -- not Co-King, but maybe CEO -- which was fine with Cinnamon.  They both just wanted rights to the food & milk & the love of two would-be farmers and worked it out.  They compromised.

Dave & I will celebrate 30 years of marriage this October -- funny how this happened when he is still 13 at heart and I am in my 30s (wink wink) -- but it happened.  Our dance has been the dance of compromise.  We still own our own opinions -- but have become a better union when we work together.  Tree falls on our lives, we move it limb by limb out of the way together.  Road becomes rough, we fill the potholes with gravel side by side together, wheelbarrow by wheelbarrow.  When his knee gives out, I carry the load.   When my heart is too full, he carries me.

As an early childhood educator my mantra is "play well in the sandbox"....

If you want that truck right now, I could:

      a. smack you in the head with a shovel & grab it 

      b. scream or cry to get my way (called a tantrum)

      c. work it out -- maybe with the teacher's help -- but after all these kiddos are little

Hmmm -- if 3 year olds can compromise & cooperate -- wonder why it is so difficult at times for adults to do the same?

So anyway -- been thinking about compromise just a bit lately. 

Seems that if two tom cats can figure it out -- we adults can do so too. 

Just thinking....

Just as free, free as we'll ever be...

It poured -- skies just opened, and it poured.

Still, we grabbed our folding chairs, rain gear...

Ian drove up from Madison,

and we arrived at CountryJam just as they took the stage.

Early -- things were moved around, acts were cancelled or changed.

And then the blue skies returned and for three hours they sang to us...
three hours!

People danced, sang back and were happy.

And, to hear thousands sing the chorus..."free as we'll ever be" with the

Zac Brown Band

magic, pure magic...

Every now & again you capture that moment,

tuck it way way back knowing it is special & will

be cherished.

Standing there, last night with Dave & Ian and thousands

of other folks that had arrived in Eau Claire-

Didn't matter our ethnicity, socioeconomic status, political views...

under that one sky, with mud on our feet

we were all happy -- just happy.

And we sang...

This is how it rolls in the country -- in Eau Claire, Wisconsin
 on a wet, stormy Saturday night.

right then left

Right on County Road R, then left on Barka Road.

There you will find our Town Hall.

There you will find 3 women waiting...

sign your name on the list --

last time I was #17 at day's end.

This is where I vote.

Township of Otter Creek

City of Augusta

Eau Claire County

Wisconsin

And I have promises to keep...

Once again, waiting.

Walked up -- actually, I mean,

trudged up thru the snow

last night from the barn.

Inside my mittened hand I was counting how many months

of "yuk" we had lived thru this winter...

final count -- too many.

Watched a small flock of birds sitting in a tree near the feeder -

that stunned look on their little beaky faces.

So -- Spring -- sang your praises,

then you disappeared

stage door left.

And winter danced back in --

and not so gracefully, I might add.

Waiting, drumming my fingers

 & waiting.

Hard to be patient.

Enough

I'm home, not feeling well today.
Do a little something, then take a rest.
So, it was with disbelief & such sadness that I turned on the news this afternoon to hear of the shooting in Arizona.  A Congresswoman - a Democrat, shot.  Many dead & hurt.
I tend to not use this blog to promote my politics, my beliefs....but I have to say this because it is time for all of us to say loud & clear (no matter what our own political agenda), "enough".  

To those that believe politics is about anger.  -- Enough.
To those that believe politics is about fear -- Enough.
To those that believe that when there is a difference of opinion, we shout it down or shoot it out --- Enough.

Please take your tea pots & your anger & your selfishness & self focus and go home.

Enough.  This is enough.


We are all part of the solution.  We are all American neighbors, community members, stake holders in a fair and peaceful and just world.   So on behalf of the child that lost her life to this shooting today...enough.

Peace to you...pass it on.

And prayers to all...we need them.

Those chances to be angels...

It is a new start, a new year...

a chance to empty the bowl and begin again.

To fill our time & our lives with what matters.

It isn't the thing you do, dear,

It's the thing you leave undone

That gives you a bit of heartache

At setting of the sun.

The tender word forgotten,

The letter you did not write,

The flowers you did not send, dear,

Are your haunting ghosts at night.

Those little acts of kindness

So easily out of mind,

Those chances to be angels

Which we poor mortals find---

Margaret E. Sangster

I wish you peace, hope & good will in this new year.

May we each find the better angel in us.

Happy New Year!

I resolve...

Tick Tock     Tick Tock     Tick Tock

The final days of 2010 are here.

In our minds, we create our "best of" and "worst of" lists for this year.

We resolve to have more "best ofs" in 2011.

Tick Tock     Tick Tock     Tick Tock

Tick Tock

My very first job out of college was teaching Nursery School  in Madison.

I learned many lessons from working with young children: 

patience, joy and that my right knee on my pants always wore thru (from getting down to the child's level)!

I learned many lessons from working with my co-teacher:

Nancy taught me about organization, intentional planning and that you should always set your bar high.

It was also at Tenney Nursery & Parent Center that I learned the essential rules for life;

Take care of yourself.

Take care of each other.

Take care of our world.

I can resolve to do better at this --even a little better counts.

How about you?  What lessons do you take into this new year?

What wishes are you making?