Tuesday, May 09, 2006

Happy Souls


I was visiting the images posted on Small Farms, thinking about Texas Ranch House, and enjoying the new CD, "The Round-Up," I ordered, and so of course I got to feeling my inner cowgirl stir. My inner cowgirl can ride a bit, but she doesn't rope or brand. My inner cowgirl longs to round-up a herd of fat, sassy hens and lead them to green pastures. I miss my chicas. I tried guided meditation and it was Gracie who came to lead me to serenity and inner peace. I miss sitting on the lawn with her; she would fall asleep like a baby in my arms.

My inner cowgirl wants a compost pile and seed catalogs and empty half barrels that still smell of whiskey or Merlot. I want to fill the barrels with beets and carrots, zinnias, cilantro, oregano and sage. Wearing my boots and hat, a pretty blouse and a flowered skirt, I want to gather eggs and flowers and veggies and children, drop a cloth on the ground and have a shaded picnic.

It's wonderful to watch things grow. From blossom to fruit, from chicks to hens, from drowsy babes to restless youth, I want to watch and record, embrace and rejoice. I want to nurture the ground that nurtures our soles. I like that thought: happy soles make happy souls. I find a true connection with the garden, the warmth of the sun, the coolness of water, the richness of soil and the hands and feet that work them; it gives deep satisfaction and comfort.

Here, at the Tree House, the apricot tree is full of slowly ripening fruit. The plum tree has lost all but a few fading blossoms and is beginning to show hard, green fruit. The apple tree is full of fragrant, snowy flowers, promising many crisp, late summer apples. We may be here long enough to pick apricots, but I think we'll be gone before apples and plums ripen and fall.


Max would like to share some pictures he took of the fort he constructed.



Mom: How many entrances did the fort have?

Max: One. And it had an entrance and an exit.



Max: It's a too bad I had to take the fort down, especially the slide, 'cause I think Thunder really enjoyed the slide. Should I say it had a "Thunder door" or "a kitten door?" 'Cause it had a door which could only fit kittens.

Mom: What was your favorite part about your fort?

Max: The slide. I made it by taking a big yellow toy moon, flipping it over and making half of it holding up the fort and the other half being the slide. Let's talk about the lookout tower...

Mom: Which part was the lookout tower?

Max: I put a pillow on the chair to make it more comforatble and to disguise the chair, and I put a blanket on the pilow to be the roof and spread out on the other part of the fort, and it made a lookout tower.

Mom: Do you want to say anything else?

Max: Not that I know of. Actually, I do want ot say something else: It had lots of holes and I kind of want to make a better one.

1 comment:

Tarie said...

Such cute pictures! =)