Sun blaze, Cody

Whirling dervish trip to Asheville

Dear son is back from UCLA and his summer research and beginning his senior year of college today. I'm stopping by my favorite coffee shop before heading home to November Hill.

Feeling a mother's relief that he's back in driving range and the back to school stuff is now complete. 

Listen to Janna Levin tell her story, Life On A Möbius Strip

It's also included in The Moth's print anthology of true stories. I want to read them all, but I promise you, this one is amazing. 

http://youtu.be/dVubvLgTcxg

November Hill farm journal, 16

The air was cool this morning, in a sharpish way that speaks of autumn, and when Redford donkey came up to get a good scratch my fingers dug in deep to new winter fur already starting to grow in.

A few leaves are beginning to fall, early birds for what is still to come. 

The arena needs harrowing and I'm reminded that soon the weeds growing there will die back and the chores to keep the arena tidy will shift to acorn raking and then leaf removal.

We are in a week where the heat recedes and weather is clear, a good time for catching up on weed-eating and mucking fields and getting on with projects that require dry weather. 

The horses seem in good spirits. They know the season of sweat and flies is nearing its end. We'll all be happy to move into fall. 

A call to slow down

This morning I read something that said the natural gait of a human walking clocks in at about 3 mph, and that the human thought process is in some way linked to this speed. Imagine what we're doing to ourselves as we race around: speed walking, running, driving, rushing.

What would happen if we all slowed down whether it be on foot or in a vehicle?

When we slow down we see things, like this, last weekend in Cades Cove. It took my breath away. It fed my soul. It is fueling my spirit a week later.