Happy New Year 2023

 Last night around 11:45 I went out to the barn with my husband with sliced apples and mare pheromone gel. We gave the apples out, I smeared some calming gel along the edges of nostrils, and we gave hay in the stalls. It was so warm here and slightly damp from yesterday’s rain, I turned on the barn fans to create some drying air and some white noise. Keil went in and out a few times to listen to the noises, but mostly they all munched their hay.

We stayed with them until the fireworks and gun shots ended. It occurred to me yet again that I spend every July 4th and every New Year’s Eve in the barn, listening to sounds that mimic a war zone. Not the way I want to celebrate freedom, democracy, or a new year, but I do love being with the herd and helping them remain calm. 

A half hour or so after midnight people got tired of being out in the damp, foggy night shooting their guns and for me the real new year emerged. Horses eating hay, calm and peaceful in the finally still night. I hope calm and peace wrap around all of us in 2023. 

I did not take any photos, but the night was billowy with fog and the lights on our Christmas tree twinkled like stars as we walked back into the house. 

Today I’ll change out the gate wreaths and work on painting the bathroom upstairs, which I did yesterday and it made me happy. An audio book, my paint brushes, and working on trim with a color called White Dove in a pearl finish - it was a calm and peaceful couple of hours and will be again today. The Benjamin Moore paints are a joy and very forgiving. I brush it on and think, okay, I’m not a professional, and then it dries and looks terrific. 

Maybe in 2023 we can all applaud our own efforts this year, the things we do that maybe we aren’t perfect at doing, but the results are nonetheless good enough, and, sometimes, spectacular. 

Happy New Year!

Happy Christmas 2022

 Here’s something really meaningful and fun if you’d like some poetry and music and art in your day:

The Universe In Verse

Longing Is Not Regret is up on The Citron Review

 You can read it HERE.

This is one of my favorite pieces and I am SO happy it found a home with The Citron Review. Please take some time and explore the other pieces in this winter issue. I’m in amazing company. 

Winter Solstice 2022

 Happy winter solstice! This is my most favorite holiday because of the symbolism and the time of year when for me, the solstice is a quiet and personal celebration as opposed to the hustle of Christmas. Today I’ve seen a few clients, visited the apiary to check on the bees and give them a little food in case they need it, and I’ll be doing some kind of candle-lit walk later in the evening. There are a few things I’ll be leaving behind in this longest night, and many things I’ll be expressing gratitude for. 

The honey bees were all in clusters, which is how they keep warm and stay alive through the winter cold. We have glass inner covers with small circular feeding screens that allow us to check and feed the bees without disturbing them. All seem to be doing well except for the hive that blew over several months ago on a cold, rainy, windy night. We can’t tell for sure if the bees are in the deep hive box or not, and it’s just too cold to take the hive apart to see what’s happening. It’s possible they absconded after the blow-over but we fed in case there is a small cluster still inside. 

The horses have come out of their blankets for the day, and the ground continues to dry out. In a bit I’ll be in the barn setting up new shavings for them ahead of this longest, chilly night. 

The dogs and cats are piled up sleeping inside the house and I’m making a pot of soup when I get in from the barn. I can’t really think of a better way to spend this day. 

Somehow, this visitor on our Red Oak Wander two nights ago makes me think of me on the winter solstice. A time for personal reflection on the darkest night. 

November Hill farm journal, 172

 Winter is here, at least this week, with cold rain and horse blankets coming out in full force to keep this little herd dry. The donkeys haven’t yet needed blankets in their lives, as they are sensible and do not venture out when it’s raining. It’s weeks like this that I daydream about covered arenas where the horses could stay dry and still march about, but they don’t seem to mind hanging out in the barn too much during these cold, wet days.

This morning as I type I’m seeing chipping sparrows in the hollies that are just outside the front porch. The chipping sparrows are the ones responsible for the treasured tiny horse tail hair nests we find in early spring, usually lying on the ground after windy March days. So today, our third very gray day in a row, with heavy fog blurring the winter landscape, it’s nice to see something that makes me think of spring. 

It’s a good day for what’s on my schedule, though: morning latte, then a few clients, gingerbread house decorating and some ongoing Christmas decorating with our grandson, then the first evening meeting of writing weekend with two dear friends and fellow writers via Zoom. 

On Tuesday in the midst of a stressful day, I got a photo from what the call the grassy bald “far side.” I feel like this is one of my spirit animals - elk - joining with the black bear. Seeing them on the mountain land makes me very happy, and seeing them in moments of stress feels like synchronicity in its purest form.

This uncollared elk bull walked up to the bald in the early morning and then left just before sunset. 

Ted Andrews says this in his book about animal symbolism: 

The appearance of an Elk signifies that you are entering a time of plenty. Everything you need – you will get. Alternatively don’t try for quick and easy; long and steady is the key to reaching your goals. Elk also brings you courage in achieving your goals. Sometimes all it takes is the next step.

What a nice message to get that day, or any day. 

Animal Speak is a wonderful book if you haven’t come across it, and I watched a documentary on Netflix this week that is also stunning. Stutz is a filmmaker’s interview with his therapist, who shares brilliant thoughts on therapy and on life. I highly recommend this book and this film, perfect for the winding down of a year and moving into winter solstice week.