I may post a few photos here and there, but have decided to close up shop for awhile to focus on daily life.
Enjoy the season - see you in September!
billie hinton’s camera-obscura:
life and lessons on November Hill Farm
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Saturday, July 18, 2009
slow weekend and the conundrum
We had a thunderstorm last night, some more rain, and temps are now below 90 for the week, if the forecast is correct.
This morning I sweated more doing yoga (16 poses that will change your life - but I did only 8) than I did doing barn chores!
I'm still struggling with tightness in the lower back. I can stretch it out with yoga, can ease it with a rolled blanket, and also by lying flat, but I suspect the real cure is to go out and ride.
The hard part of that is getting motivated to do what it takes to be in the saddle, moving. I guess it's one of those things where you have to push through the hard part to get to the good part.
And it's also a lesson in not letting oneself get to the hard place, in the first place. One of those things I have to learn over and over again.
Simply said: if riding makes your body (not to mention mind and soul) happy, do it every day.
This morning I sweated more doing yoga (16 poses that will change your life - but I did only 8) than I did doing barn chores!
I'm still struggling with tightness in the lower back. I can stretch it out with yoga, can ease it with a rolled blanket, and also by lying flat, but I suspect the real cure is to go out and ride.
The hard part of that is getting motivated to do what it takes to be in the saddle, moving. I guess it's one of those things where you have to push through the hard part to get to the good part.
And it's also a lesson in not letting oneself get to the hard place, in the first place. One of those things I have to learn over and over again.
Simply said: if riding makes your body (not to mention mind and soul) happy, do it every day.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
awakening the root chakra
Yesterday morning I did a yoga class that was supposed to awaken the root chakra. It was wonderful! We did kriyas, which were fun and a bit wild, and in one meditation I became the big oak tree that stands just outside our barn. Morning chores were delightful. I was stretched and happy.
Late in the afternoon, I realized that I not only awakened the root chakra, I may have sent it into a state of overdrive!
It's interesting that the root chakra is our base of support and groundedness, and the only thing that brought relief to the incredible tightness in my lower back last evening was laying on/leaning against a rolled blanket. A bolster of support.
I suspect the lower back issue is a BIG reminder that when I don't ride, my connection to the earth slips. Yesterday morning was the perfect one to tack up and enjoy the cool air, the ethereal fog, and Keil Bay's big movement. In a sort of magical counterintuitiveness, his lightness grounds me, in the very best way.
This morning it is sunny and already getting humid and hot. I need to find a yoga class that will soothe and gently stretch my back. Meanwhile I am typing with a rolled blanket behind me, and hopefully the barn and the Big Bay will take care of the rest.
interesting p/s the first:
I just did 20 minutes of a yoga class focusing on establishing a foundation, and now, sitting here eating my breakfast, I can literally feel the tightness releasing. It literally feels like it's draining out the bottom of my back.
Late in the afternoon, I realized that I not only awakened the root chakra, I may have sent it into a state of overdrive!
It's interesting that the root chakra is our base of support and groundedness, and the only thing that brought relief to the incredible tightness in my lower back last evening was laying on/leaning against a rolled blanket. A bolster of support.
I suspect the lower back issue is a BIG reminder that when I don't ride, my connection to the earth slips. Yesterday morning was the perfect one to tack up and enjoy the cool air, the ethereal fog, and Keil Bay's big movement. In a sort of magical counterintuitiveness, his lightness grounds me, in the very best way.
This morning it is sunny and already getting humid and hot. I need to find a yoga class that will soothe and gently stretch my back. Meanwhile I am typing with a rolled blanket behind me, and hopefully the barn and the Big Bay will take care of the rest.
interesting p/s the first:
I just did 20 minutes of a yoga class focusing on establishing a foundation, and now, sitting here eating my breakfast, I can literally feel the tightness releasing. It literally feels like it's draining out the bottom of my back.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
in a fog (literally), and sandplay
When I woke up this morning it was slightly cloudy and 59 degrees outside - the lowest low we've had this summer. It really felt like we'd entered a different season! I sat down at the computer to check email and when I next looked out, only twenty minutes or so later, the world had gone foggy.
So much so that I initially thought maybe it was smoke, and I went out to check. But it's a huge batch of fog that rolled in, silently:
The fog comes
on little cat feet.
It sits looking
over harbor and city
on silent haunches
and then moves on.
-Carl Sandburg
I was going to take photos, but can't find my camera!
On other fronts, I've been working in my garret upstairs. My sandtrays are all set up, and I'm unpacking miniatures. Slowly, the garret is filling up with my collection, and it's hard to explain how it feels to have it here at home.
Each of the pieces is something I added because in some way I was drawn to it, or felt it would be important to a client to use in the sandplay work. Most of the pieces have, by this time, been used in many trays over the years. A number of the pieces were important to clients, and were used repeatedly in trays, and others were used in final trays, representing the shift to wholeness.
In some ways the unpacking process feels like handling those little bottles in the last Harry Potter movie - the ones that held memories. The miniatures carry a lot of energy, and it's almost irreverent to unpack them too quickly. I feel I need to handle each one with an open mind, before placing it on the shelf or surface in the garret. So it's taking awhile to do, but it's special time and a good way to let the garret stretch and absorb.
Once I have everything set up, I'll do a tray to initiate the new space.
Returned To Say
When I face north a lost Cree
on some new shore puts a moccasin down,
rock in the light and noon for seeing,
he in a hurry and I beside him
It will be a long trip; he will be a new chief;
we have drunk new water from an unnamed stream;
under little dark trees
he is to find a path
we both must travel because we have met.
Henceforth we gesture even by waiting;
there is a grain of sand on his knifeblade
so small he blows it and while his breathing
darkens the steel his become set
And start a new vision: the rest of his life.
We will mean what he does. Back of this page
the path turns north. We are looking for a sign.
Our moccasins do not mark the ground.
-William Stafford
So much so that I initially thought maybe it was smoke, and I went out to check. But it's a huge batch of fog that rolled in, silently:
The fog comes
on little cat feet.
It sits looking
over harbor and city
on silent haunches
and then moves on.
-Carl Sandburg
I was going to take photos, but can't find my camera!
On other fronts, I've been working in my garret upstairs. My sandtrays are all set up, and I'm unpacking miniatures. Slowly, the garret is filling up with my collection, and it's hard to explain how it feels to have it here at home.
Each of the pieces is something I added because in some way I was drawn to it, or felt it would be important to a client to use in the sandplay work. Most of the pieces have, by this time, been used in many trays over the years. A number of the pieces were important to clients, and were used repeatedly in trays, and others were used in final trays, representing the shift to wholeness.
In some ways the unpacking process feels like handling those little bottles in the last Harry Potter movie - the ones that held memories. The miniatures carry a lot of energy, and it's almost irreverent to unpack them too quickly. I feel I need to handle each one with an open mind, before placing it on the shelf or surface in the garret. So it's taking awhile to do, but it's special time and a good way to let the garret stretch and absorb.
Once I have everything set up, I'll do a tray to initiate the new space.
Returned To Say
When I face north a lost Cree
on some new shore puts a moccasin down,
rock in the light and noon for seeing,
he in a hurry and I beside him
It will be a long trip; he will be a new chief;
we have drunk new water from an unnamed stream;
under little dark trees
he is to find a path
we both must travel because we have met.
Henceforth we gesture even by waiting;
there is a grain of sand on his knifeblade
so small he blows it and while his breathing
darkens the steel his become set
And start a new vision: the rest of his life.
We will mean what he does. Back of this page
the path turns north. We are looking for a sign.
Our moccasins do not mark the ground.
-William Stafford
Monday, July 13, 2009
dark skies, thunder, RAIN, and gorgeous geldings
When I went to bed last night there was a chance of rain, wind, and hail - we got lightning and thunder and maybe 24 drops of rain.
This morning, though, the weather radar showed a pretty intense storm band moving in, and the wind whipped up, the thunder boomed, and we finally, thankfully, got a steady, soaking rain that lasted several hours. Everyone around here needed it.
By the time my son and I went out to feed breakfast and get chores done, the intense weather had moved on and we were left with a light sprinkling.
It's been awhile since we had a rainy day like this, and I decided my son should take the geldings into the arena so they could get some exercise, clean their feet out, and give me room to get their stalls set up.
I was thrilled to see them immediately go into big, beautiful movement mode. Cody looked fabulous, Keil Bay was moving so well I wanted to stand up on the picnic table, put his saddle on, and sail onto his back during the extended trot sequences. (the bucking bits I could do without!)
The pony too was doing his fancy stuff, and they had a good time. Galloping, flying changes, big trots, rearing and bucking, head tossing. I don't think my son has experienced that in a long time, and he could barely keep the smile off his face.
Big, beautiful, exuberant horses offer JOY.
This morning, though, the weather radar showed a pretty intense storm band moving in, and the wind whipped up, the thunder boomed, and we finally, thankfully, got a steady, soaking rain that lasted several hours. Everyone around here needed it.
By the time my son and I went out to feed breakfast and get chores done, the intense weather had moved on and we were left with a light sprinkling.
It's been awhile since we had a rainy day like this, and I decided my son should take the geldings into the arena so they could get some exercise, clean their feet out, and give me room to get their stalls set up.
I was thrilled to see them immediately go into big, beautiful movement mode. Cody looked fabulous, Keil Bay was moving so well I wanted to stand up on the picnic table, put his saddle on, and sail onto his back during the extended trot sequences. (the bucking bits I could do without!)
The pony too was doing his fancy stuff, and they had a good time. Galloping, flying changes, big trots, rearing and bucking, head tossing. I don't think my son has experienced that in a long time, and he could barely keep the smile off his face.
Big, beautiful, exuberant horses offer JOY.
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