Here is a quick list of things I wish I did better. Things I’m working at improving. Weaknesses that need strength-training. Sources of occasional embarrassment. And some pain.
Cool Morning Work
Hello there! This is Handsome’s birthday week. He has ***miraculously*** taken off from the Commish for several days, and I am so happy. He needs the break, like for serious, and I love having him home. Each day this week is different.
Zucchini Secret Service
Last night as the sun was sliding downhill, past the pond and behind where the coyotes lurk, I went to the garden to check our squash vines. Given the war I recently waged against the cabbage pests, I’ve been fully expecting to one day discover thousands of those flat, grey squash bugs devouring my third most favorite crop.
I |
Chunk-hi, our four year old buffalo bull. We |
The Morning After, Counting Blessings
This morning we opened our weary eyes to light winds stirring up fresh air, deep blue and grey skies, and well watered fields. Another storm is moving in, but it’s gentle. Overflowing the banks of our pond as if with tears. The thunder is rolling smoothly today, a sad but soothing backdrop to this new reality.
The animals are calm and safe. I am stunned by how normal everything looks, despite how it feels. Last night’s tornado swept just past the edge of our farm and touched down across the road. Our house, incredibly, is unharmed by the past two days of severe weather. This time, not even a shingle slipped out of place.
We are in tact physically, but our true home, our hearts, are hurting deeply. Aching because so many in Oklahoma have lost everything. So much life is gone. And so many of our loved ones are in shock from close calls that can barely be understood or articulated. I cannot peel away from updates from family and friends, and proceeding with a normal day feels bizarre. It will be a long, long time before thousands are able to enjoy normalcy again. Never, for some.
Storm season is part of life here in Oklahoma, and everyone has a story. So sometimes we joke about it; sometimes it’s exciting. Then sometimes we are struck down by it and reminded of the danger. Unfortunately most of us have by now dealt with the most extreme tornadoes, especially the folks in Moore, my husband’s home town. Still, Oklahoma enjoys a civic intimacy here that I know is special. Something contracts us tightly, like a great loving muscle, when tragedy strikes. We are drawn closely together to help each other and to share each other’s pain.
Please keep Oklahoma in your prayers for a long time. The shock will begin to wear off in a few days and those affected by this week’s devastation will need grace, strength and miracles. As I write this the thunder is rolling more and more. I cry spontaneously and can barely breathe, thinking of how many people are mourning the worst, most unspeakable losses.
We have so much here for which to be deeply, forever grateful.
Love your people fiercely, as I know you do!
“There’s a long road ahead.
In some cases there will be enormous grief
that has to be absorbed.
But you will not travel that path alone.
Your country will travel it with you,
fueled by our faith in the Almighty
and our faith in one another.”
~ President Obama
May 21, 2013
xoxoxoxo
Take a Breath
This farm has lost its ever-loving mind. Every day we discover new chaos and silliness. Greedy horses. Specifically, Chanta. A pregnant llama who thinks its funny to never have babies. Honeybees who visit us but apparently sleep and make honey elsewhere. A parrot who screams wildly, with the appearance of random noise but with really specific messages we are slow to interpret. A cat who refuses the food we buy but also hunts the cardinals. A guard dog who escapes and runs free but gets spat on by a guard llama. A buffalo who has severe separation anxiety. Roosters who battle each other despite the fact that they share a harem of twenty hens. Geese. Just, geese.
If Handsome and I couldn’t laugh about it, we would be clawing our faces off.
So we laugh. We laugh so much. And our face or more or less in tact.
Lots to tell, more to do. Happy Tuesday everyone!
Over and out.
xoxoxoxo
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