Saturday, February 09, 2013

To Warm Your Heart

Here is a heartfelt Hencake for all my friends.
Maria likes hers a bit crisp. How do you take your pancakes?

Friday, February 08, 2013

Watching Chickens






I say this apologetically, I love watching my chickens.

I also love being with my goats, and these are not to the exclusion of other activities, or the company of other beings. But, for example, when Geoff and I were discussing my _brilliant_ career, he asked, "Well, what makes you happy? You should do that." And I replied, sincerely, apologetically, "I'm happy watching chickens, and goats." And I even reflected for a moment, hopefully imagining a respectable job, with salary and benefits, where I could watch chickens, and goats, and children, then write, photograph, and share my musings...

Recently the traffic to Chickenblog has been steadily climbing, and even enjoyed some spikes. Lots of visits, or "hits." It was, I admit, a thrill. There are few tangible signs of success in blogging, especially without sponsors. Following the statistics is both useful, and self-defeating, and I admit the numbers begin to matter. A lot. Well, I thought it mattered... it turns out that even though I believed that the counter was not including my own visits to the blog, it turns out that by some glitch, my own visits to posts were being counted. Since I have been doing a great deal of archive preservation for the blog, it looked as though traffic was on the rise. Then it came to my attention that the high number of visits to Chickenblog were not due to Sudden Onset Renown, but to my own navel gazing.

Confession, they say, is good for the soul. It feels humbling, frustrating, and embarrassing, and I cannot, or dare not, ponder how this can be good for my soul.

Sigh.



{this moment}


A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment.
A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

:: Inspired by Soule Mama ::

If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments, for all to find and see.

Monday, February 04, 2013

Oh Groundhog!

Whatever the wise Whistle-Pig's prognostication, we were determined to spend Groundhog Day in the snow, in nature. So, we dug out our gloves and hats, packed a picnic, and set our course for east and north, for pines, and oaks, and winter. This is some of what we enjoyed~























Idyllwild, California~
We can't wait to go back.