Week #52 - End with Gratitude

This week ends a full year of weekly blogs of my random thoughts, pictures and musings from the farm. The year has flown by once again and I find it hard to believe that we are once again heading into a new year.  

Last year I shared a picture a day from the farm, a challenging yet rewarding practice that I enjoyed immensely except on the days I didn't. I enjoy sharing our successes and stories of folly and fun from the farm. I love hearing from the few of you who follow along and hope that every once in a while you get a chuckle or learn something new! 

Today is Christmas Day and as we get set to eat a meal fully grown here on the farm, I feel immense gratitude that we have carved out a life that allows us to enjoy good food, fresh air and simple pleasures.

I hope that all of you are safe and warm with someone you love, awaiting the impending blizzard that is reportedly going to arrive shortly. Regardless of what traditions you celebrate this time of year, I hope they bring you peace, joy and grace as you move forward to a new year.

Cheers!

Week #23 - Bees, butterflies and a radish

As I've pondered about what to write this week, my heart feels heavy. Somehow talking about Chocolate, our goat who has decided she's a chicken and pushes her way into the chicken coop to lie with the hens or telling you about Felix our shy new barn cat, doesn't seem right.

Like many of you, I awoke this morning to the news out of Orlando of yet another mass shooting. The day passed with the now familiar litany of the internet jumping to conclusions and politicians expressing outrage and sadness while families weep in front of cameras.

My simple soul longs to shut it all out and plant trees across the driveway. Turn off my phone and the radio and ponder the quiet beauty of a young radish, pause to watch a bumble bee feed on the chive blossoms or sit a while and watch the lazy flight of an all too rare monarch butterfly...

 But somehow I know that would be irresponsible, that it is exactly that type of ostrich in the sand type of behavior that perpetuates the ignorance and apathy that begets such horrible acts in the first place. Our world is a complicated place and requires a level of engagement and intention from all of us to create and protect space for everyone... black, brown, queer, straight, rich, poor, ignorant and sophisticated.... everyone! Hate creeps in when we aren't paying attention, when we lose focus and intention. 

My head hurts when I think about the complicated issues that surround the shooting, my heart hurts when I think about the lives snuffed out because hate or sickness broke through. Tomorrow I will engage 'cause that's what the universe needs... but for now, I'm off to watch the bees and try to heal this simple soul. 

Without reflection, we go blindly on our way, creating more unintended consequences, and failing to achieve anything useful. ~ Margaret Wheatley