when it's cold outside even the fluffy Corgi stays in

Yesterday I went out to the barn mid-day to get ready for hoof trims. I had to take my jacket off because I was sweating! Twenty hooves later, I was bundled up tight. The sun was gone, the sky overtaken by clouds, and the wind was blowing hard. Just as the trimmer left a flurry of snowflakes began to fall. Crazy weather here on November Hill.

Today it's sunny but very cold. I removed thick ice from water troughs this morning and again near noon.

Thankfully the wind has quieted but it is too cold out to do anything except count the chores and the minutes until you can come back inside.

And one of us isn't even counting. He's on the sofa on fleece by the woodstove! The Life of Bear. 

rain-dentist-clients-editing-mud

That about sums up my day today. 

But I can reframe it like this:

Water.

Tooth fixed!

Transformation.

Progress.

ee cummings poetry.

It's all in how you name the thing. 

Playing With the Pony We Have

This week the Little Man initiated some arena ground work when he shoved past me into the back door of his stall at breakfast time. In the moment, I was pretty annoyed with him, but once we got to the arena and worked through a little bit more cheekiness, we each shifted our expectations and what blossomed was an absolutely gorgeous free lunging dance where I asked and he walked, trotted, cantered, and pirouetted with grace and power. 

We had so much fun that when we were done and I brought the donkey boys in for their own play time (they were banging at the gate to come in) the pony tried to climb through the fence to get back inside with me. He actively wanted more.

We've repeated this for three days now (without the need for cheek!) and it has been a wonderful way to give him some exercise, a job, and some attention and fun. 

Yesterday his girl walked out while we were playing and stood there with a big smile on her face. I know my smile was even bigger. 

In hindsight, maybe he was asking the way he knows how to ask for some attention and some fun. It almost always happens that when we accept the present moment and allow for something wonderful, we get it.

squeaky wheels and donkey boys

I was out at the barn this morning pushing the wheelbarrow. The wheel was squeaking loudly and then suddenly there were TWO squeaky wheelbarrows and then THREE. Totally confused, I stopped and listened. Numbers two and three were in fact not wheelbarrows, but donkeys!

I ask you - is the wheelbarrow mimicking donkeys or are donkeys mimicking wheelbarrows?

Something to ponder on this chilly (but sunshiny, oh so happy to type that!) day.

On "wanting one" of Anything

I'm aware today of how much we walk around in our lives (we being the universal) "wanting one" of any number of things.

In a brief scan of Facebook today I saw many posts with photos and the main comment: I want one.

I was especially perturbed by the photos of various animals that were posted along with that simple statement: a unique species of bat, a miniature donkey, a hedgehog, an armadillo, and a huge draft horse.

Anyone who knows me knows what I'm about to write. An animal is not a thing to want. An animal is a fellow living being who shares the earth with us and any wild animal not needing protection belongs exactly there - in the wild. Domesticated animals are not things to want either. The miniature donkey is going to need hooves trimmed and diet monitored and exercise and a friend of like species with which to spend all the hours you aren't out there with him/her. The huge draft horse is likely to require extra cost when it comes to getting hooves trimmed and teeth done as well as more food to eat and exercise and a friend as well.

Bringing an animal into our families is a huge decision.

But let's move beyond "wanting one" with regards to animals.

What about wanting one of actual things? Cars, houses, purses, shoes, cameras, mugs, hats, phones.

What do we really mean when we say "I want one?"

A few days ago I saw a Moomin mug on Twitter and I became completely obsessed with the idea of having one. I not only spent an hour shopping online, I purchased the one I found that I loved best. It arrived two days ago and it made me very happy. Every mug of coffee and tea I've had since I've had in my new Moomin mug and it brings me joy. And I will add that my old favorite and still dear to me mug is cracked in many places and on occasion leaks through the biggest crack. So, this was not an indulgent purchase. But the impulse to "want one" was strong and it prevailed.

One thing I try to do and I intend to do more of this year is to stop myself every time I "want one" of anything. I'll stop and look around my house and the farm and I'll make a little catalogue of all the marvelous things that are already here. Do I really need that new thing I've spotted? Can I without reservation make the commitment of time and energy and "as long as we both shall live" that it takes to care for another living being? 

My life is full. I have a big family when you count up all the humans and horses and pony and donkeys and Corgis and kit-meows. My family brings me love and joy on a moment-by-moment basis. The work it takes to keep us all fed and watered and happy is also huge. 

I have a lot of stuff. Some of it brings me joy each day. Some brings me joy when I remember to stop and look at it. Some of that stuff is here only because it has been here so long I no longer consider its usefulness or its beauty. Before I add to that catalogue, I will think twice.

And no, I'm not saying never to indulge oneself. Because I did, just last week, and right this second I am getting ready to enjoy a cup of tea in my new mug.