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happy new year from the lazy w!!

January 1, 2019

Happy New Year! The first day of a sparkling new season, a meandering story certainly worth telling. I am so happy to still be here writing, trying to document our life stories and capture some of the learning curve along the way.

Regarding the above photo, two things: I am very excited to soon finish some extensive dental work that could end a lifetime of front-tooth replacement drama. This means I might soon smile for photos with my mouth OPEN, ha. Also, I am loving winter garden tasks lately. So much. Just looking at this, I can smell the cedar and feel the crunch of leaves.

How are you? How was your December-January threshold celebration?

Our last day of 2018 was quiet and well spent. Yesterday while Handsome was at the Commish, I took down all of our Christmas decorations and started cleaning the house. Klaus helped by requiring lots of fetch in between. I also grabbed my final run of the calendar year and started cooking and setting up for a casual dinner with Mickey and Kellie. We had “church” on Monday evening this week, and it ended up being a sweet and perfect New Year’s Eve, just the four of us. I promise to tell you about this project soon, as in this month. Pinky promise.

After we hugged a lot and the Sperrys went home (around 10 p.m.), Handsome and I got into some pajamas and cuddled up to read aloud our 2018 Grievances. This is only the second year we have done this, but we both know it is a favorite tradition that will likely stay with us for the rest of our lives.

It’s so simple, too. We just keep a large empty jar in our bedroom and a supply of blank slips of paper near it. Both of us are free every day throughout the year to scribble down little memories and love notes, details of daily life we want to remember. As with yours, our life is brimming with variety and roller coasters. The details each of us chooses to harness are a lot of fun to read at the end of the year! We cover everything from romance and super romance (brown chicken brown cow, haha) to family updates, farm projects, stressors overcome, community stuff, funny animal stories, excellent meals, and all the stuff in between. You name it, one of us has documented it in short sentences and messy handwriting.

So we accumulate them all year long. Then on New Year’s Eve, at least an hour ahead of the countdown, we take turns reading aloud the other person’s notes. Oh! We call them “grievances” because at some point in 2017 a joke started about filing grievances, something funny, I don’t remember now because we forgot to write that down, ha!

Example, an entry of mine following our Second Annual Talent Show which was rained out and which my husband rescued in one million vital ways:

Anyway. It’s heartwarming and funny, and it is amazing how many big and little events tend to otherwise blur together or standout in weird ways until we read our real-time reactions to them. Does that make sense? It’s a tiny, easy little time warp into our own minds. The things that mattered to us on no particular days in the past. We both love it. And it is funny how many events we both chose to document, unwittingly along with the other.

Okay, moving on.

Speaking of writing and keeping history, this year one of my seven million happy intentions is to blog more regularly, to keep an actual account of daily life. I don’t know whether I have a specialty niche to offer the internet, but as they say, each of us is an expert in our own selves, in our own lives, so that much I can definitely offer. And I will gratefully and freely admit, my husband and I have built and enjoy a really beautiful life here on these nine acres. Lots to share if I just take the time. I hope you will follow along.

I am reading for the second time the small daily devotional called “Jesus Calling.” It was a soothing and inspiring little daily ritual for most of 2018, and I am excited to dive more deeply this year. Plus, I get to read over again the notes I wrote on each calendar date from last year. So much has changed in our life, so many miracles, so much growth! It’s going to be fun to re-experience all of that, including the hard weeks.

Today’s standout scripture is from Romans 12: “Be ye not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” This speaks to me more vividly all the time. It all starts in our minds, truly. And I crave deeper transformation than ever before. As for the worldly part, also yes. Yes a thousand times. It takes effort, but resisting the push and pull of trends and bandwagons is good. Cultivating our own paths, learning to ignore outside pressures and actively choose to not be conformed, that is all so good and juicy. “The Joy of Missing Out” has been on my mind all month long. Ironically, I don’t feel like I have missed out on anything that matters. It’s a pretty nifty little paradox.

One of the television programs that made a big impact on us last year was The Kindness Diaries, and my husband especially has taken up the chance to connect with the show’s host and author, Leon Logothetis, via social media. As a result, he has received two books in the mail and is excited to read them. One is a memoir of the making of the show’s first season. The other is called, Live, Love, Explore. After my guy studied The Book of Joy with me, helped host that amazing discussion dinner, and then propagated that material to his friends and employees, I am so happy deep in my bones for this next experience.

Farm Census to Start the Year:

We still have two fat, sassy horses, Chanta and Dusty. Both male, both cut, both extremely affectionate and smart, but neither trained. No, before you ask, sadly I guess, we do not ride them. But we do love them so very much.

We have one slightly famous llama, Meh, who is approaching five years old. He was born here at the Lazy W to registered and beloved parents Romulus and Seraphine. Meh is one of those animals who is more than the sum of his fuzzy parts. We just plain love him to the moon and back. Meh was recently immortalized by local artist Emily Williams, and as long as I am lucky enough, the artwork is hanging in our living room. Pretty sure Handsome will scoop it up and take it to his office before long.

The Lazy W has two South African geese, one gander named Johnny Cash (we always say his full name) and one mostly blind, barely walking, still elegant and beautiful female named Mama Goose. We are amazed she is still with us after so many years, so much extreme weather, and so many predator encounters. We love her. We love them both.

Along with the geese we currently have nine chickens. Two of them are mature roosters, and the other seven are gorgeous little hens, all hatched here at the W. My “pet” is called Red Shoulder Chicken, so name because in good weather she has a penchant for hopping all the way up to my shoulder to perch. She rather demands (and therefore receives) lush and colorful kitchen treats before settling for pedestrian chicken scratch.

Lately we have been getting two large, heavy fresh eggs every day or so. Our hens are young. It will naturally increase as weather improves and the hens mature, but I also want to increase our laying flock this year. The trouble is that we want to keep them safe in the penned yard (hash-tag hawks and owls), but space is limited. We want them to be super happy and have room to play. We shall see.

Three barn cats grace us with their presence and for food and cuddles, and each of them has a distinct personality. Klaus loves them like the small, vulnerable siblings they are. He roughs them up violently and with great zeal. I taught him this.

Fast Woman still appears when the stars align, and I recently dreamed that she was shrinky-dink size but three times as loud as normal.

Also, of course, you know Klaus, and if you have been reading here very long you know Pacino, our adolescent macaw. We have some possible life-improving plans for Pacino his year. Stay tuned.

Have you ever taken a meditation class? Handsome and I and a few of our friends are flirting with the idea of attending some being offered near the farm, and a Buddhist Monastery. I am pretty excited. Reading, studying, thinking, journaling, and staying in contemplation are all easy for me. Quieting my mind, not so much. But I crave “spaciousness” and ease, and this could be a pathway to that. Plus, one of our happy intentions for 2019 is to explore other faiths. Love it. I will keep you posted.

Ok, I am so glad you stuck around for some thoughts and reintroductions to the farm. Again, thank you for reading. Thanks so much for giving me a chance to share some of the things I find to be truly amazing in this life.

More than ever, I feel the cascade of Grace and Joy, and I am eager to write it all down. Happiest of the New Year to you, friends. I hope you can take hold of this wave of good energy and make it your own. See you again soon.

“We are all gardeners,
planting seeds of intention
and watering them with attention
in every moment
of every day.”
~Cristen Rodgers
XOXOXOXO

Proverbs 31, Rebooting Alcohol Text

October 4, 2012

Hi there!! Thanks for stopping in!

Today is a wonky reboot from last October,

some remarks on Proverbs 31, verses 3-7.

If you would like to read other entries,

check out my tab up top.

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I will try to mostly avoid the Grand Bossy Soapbox on the plain issue of alcohol consumption and just try to let the text (though it is slightly confusing) stand on its own. Alcoholism is real, that much I know. And it destroys lives. That much is immutable. But I do realize lots of people see a vast gray area here, which I will leave each person to explore on her own.

We’ll just lay some stuff out today, okay? If you happen to have some insight or expertise, or really just an opinion, then as always you are 100% welcome and invited to post comments or email and share! That’s what this is all about!

In the light studying I have done, it seems to be a generally agreed upon point that verse three is simply foreshadowing of events in King Solomon’s (Lemuel’s) reign. As most people know, Solomon was known for his wisdom. So the building of his character is pretty fascinating. The instruction given him by his mother is vital.

“Give not thy strength unto women,

nor thy ways to that which destroyeth kings.”

Are there any take-aways here for us, the common people? Not sure. I will resist the temptation to extrapolate meanings where scholars have already explained something clearly and simply. A King’s mother was giving her son advice which he would later need in his reign. I can accept that much and move on…

The Judgement of Solomon, where a mother sacrifices her child to keep him whole.

A powerful story that is painfully close to my heart.

The next four verses seem clear enough at first blush but have incited plenty of debate. This is where I will step back a bit, quote the scripture and references, then keep my remarks brief. For a change. LOL.

“It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine; nor for princes strong drink:

Lest they drink, and forget the law, and pervert the judgement of any of the afflicted.

Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish, and wine unto those that be of heavy hearts.

Let him drink, and forget his poverty, and remember his misery no more.”

Schofield References:

“Blessed art thou, O land, when thy king is the son of nobles, and thy princes eat in due season, for strength, and not for drunkenness!” ~Ecclesiastes 10:17
“Whoredom and wine and new wine take away the heart.” ~Hosea 4:11

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Okay. Last October I felt free to give my personal opinions on alcohol and strong drink. Not so much this year. This seems to be part of an evolution in my heart, the distinction between gladdened and mocked. Please feel free to read my thoughts then or ignore me altogether, but mostly please share yours. This all is wildly interesting to me, and I love to hear how other people sort it out.

Okay. Thanks again for reading! Tune in either tomorrow or Saturday for something totally different!

“We are all tattooed in our cradles with the beliefs of our tribe;

the record may seem superficial, but it is indelible.

You cannot educate a man wholly out of the superstitious fears

which were implanted in his imagination,

no matter how utterly his reason may reject them.”

~Sir Oliver Wendell Homes, Sr. 1872

xoxoxoo

Proverbs 31: Swept and Sprinkled, Ma Joad as a P 31 Woman

October 3, 2012

As we sink into the warmth and wisdom of Proverbs 31

as it applies to women, rather than to kings as in the first few verses,

a lovely and demanding image comes into focus.

We begin to see the heart and the habits of a woman who clearly makes her home a priority.

The descriptions available to us go far beyond dull exteriors, too.

They evoke purpose, joy, self discipline, industriousness,
and above all… love.

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Always a sucker for characterization, I would like to propose a literary parallel. Earlier this summer our book club gobbled up a fairly modern classic, Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck. If you’re interested, I wrote more on that book here, Trading Wrath for Gratitude and here, the full book review.

One of the main characters in Grapes is of course Ma Joad. She is the matriarch of her growing and suffering family, and she leads them with great dignity and resourcefulness as they migrate westward and endure one devastation after another.

Ma Joad cooks whatever food stuffs she can collect, and she does so with aching love. She feeds strangers with astonishing generosity. She washes her family’s dust-packed clothes in brutal circumstances. She keeps her adult children motivated and soothes her husband’s frayed nerves and bolsters his wilting ego. She honors her aging and sometimes difficult parents. (Actually, I think they are her in-laws.) She keeps house in every sense of the word, both physically and spiritually.

One of the rituals Ma Joad maintains no matter where they camp, no matter who is with them or what is happening that day, seems to be cleaning the floors. Despite the Dust Bowl conditions of extreme dryness and wind-blown dirt that would permeate every crevice, she persists. She places high priority on refreshing her family’s state of mind by refreshing their physical surroundings.

Steinbeck frequently used the phrase, “swept and sprinkled” to describe Ma’s finished house.

And while she did special things for guests, she kept house for her family.

Photo Sourced from Google, original website unavailable.

My husband’s grandparents lived in western Oklahoma during the infamous Dust Bowl. They farmed and raised their families and survived the incredible heat and drought. When I finished The Grapes of Wrath, no doubt still in that afterglow of having read something so excellent, I asked my wonderful father-in-law a few questions about his childhood memories and the stories he’d heard about his parents and grandparents. Among other stuff, I wanted to know more about “swept and sprinkled.” He nodded and smiled knowingly.

Since the floors were all dirt, Harvey explained, any amount of foot traffic would stir up messy paths all day long. He said that people had a habit of sweeping the thresholds of their homes with a broom then sprinkling the smoothed earth with a little water to settle the dust. He said that this would beautify the home and also minimize the tracking in of dirt.

So simple.

And yet, would anyone now really blame Ma Joad had she ignored this task? I mean, the dust was blowing all day, every day. Relentless.

Sweeping and sprinkling had to be done on a regular, perhaps almost constant basis because of their conditions.

But she kept doing it. In addition to cooking and washing (by hand, not with a machine) and doctoring and tending, this not young woman made sure her family had a smooth, settled entry to their home. So simple. I find this absolutely beautiful and fascinating.

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I am so full of wondering about this… Every family is different, every woman is different, and every home is different… But the drive to nest and nurture stretches across cultures and eras and personalities. I’d love some fresh input. Please join me!

What simple things can you think of that the modern woman might do just to improve her family’s state of mind, or their basic physical surroundings?
What regular little rituals do you keep for these reasons?
Is there something you do every day that makes you feel like your home is “ready” for your people? What makes you super comfy and might make you say, “We are swept and sprinkled and ready.”
How do you feel when you do this stuff? Are you radiating love, or obligation?
What tasks do we avoid, just because they are painfully monotonous or repetitive?
What excuses do we offer ourselves for shirking duties?
Does not doing something accumulate anything adverse, either spiritual or physical? What are the consequences of this?

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I hope this little theme was as enlightening to you as it has been to me. Internalizing the purpose of what we do at home and the true value of the seemingly mundane tasks that comprise home-keeping… these can prompt powerful shifts in attitude.

My personal wish is to be more like Ma Joad, for starters. To be more loving in the routine jobs I might prefer to ignore, and to always remember that repetitive tasks sometimes make the biggest difference.

I wish the same and more for you!!

Thanks so much for reading.

“What’s this call, this sperit? An’ I says, ‘It’s love.

I love people so much I’m fit to bust, sometimes.'”

~Ma Joad

xoxoxoxo

Proverbs 31: Beginning to Dig

October 2, 2012

Good Morning Ladies! (and gentlemen? LOL Maybe…)

For the second day of Proverbs 31, I am rebooting

the post I wrote on October 3rd of last year

about the speaker of this chapter,
a little bit of the historical context,

and some possible ways to interpret the material.
As always, I hope you’ll join in the conversation!

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First off, I would like to encourage you to read Perfect Imperfections’ thoughts on the entire book of Proverbs throughout the month (October 2011). Proverbs is a juicy, meaty piece of text to read almost no matter who you are or what your exact personal condition at the moment, because, as Schofield puts it, “This collection of sententious sayings is divine wisdom applied to the earthly conditions of the people of God.”

Sententious means, “Given to or abounding in aphoristic expression Given to or abounding in excessive moralizing.”
Aphoristic means, “A concise statement of a principle. A terse formulation of a truth or sentiment.”

I groove direct and timeless. I groove applicable wisdom, and this is it baby.

This is a flavor apart from law and parable; this is a rich assemblage of morals, rules of thumb, bits of wisdom, and (then) socially agreed upon objectives for us to digest and consider.

The final part of the six parts of this book is chapter 31, which is my focus this month. I did quite a bit of reading to learn about the speaker and context of these thirty one verses, only to discover a rare Biblical mystery. Evidently some debate remains over the true identity of “Lemuel,” some people believing he is actually King Solomon (making the speaker’s mother Bathsheba), others understanding the translation to be almost symbolic, more of a general representation of God’s king, or a man dedicated to God. Still another camp suggests this is advice given to the church herself.

I encourage you to read more on your own if the background feels vital to your acceptance or understanding of this book. There is always Wikipedia, but I personally found Dr. Claude Mariottini to be clear and studious. Also, this Bible study page was easy to read. As always, if you happen to have some insight on this topic PLEASE share!

“The words of king Lemuel, the prophecy

that his mother taught him.

What, my son? and what, the son of my womb?

and what, the son of my vows?”

~Proverbs 31:1-2

So we begin the month ready to explore either advice given to an historical king by his trusted and beloved mother or just really good, deep down wisdom that applies to all of us. Perhaps especially those in positions of authority. Maybe both.

I can hardly wait!

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Tomorrow’s theme will be bit different, as will a few days this week. I have a couple of fun things planned, and one fabulous woman who curates Periphery has thrown her smart, well written hat into the ring for guest posting!

Wishing you all a really great Tuesday. I am off for a long and much needed run outside, some horse grooming and floor mopping, and then an afternoon filled with sewing projects.

See you tomorrow!

“The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious.
It is the source of all true art and science.”
~Albert Einstein
xoxoxoxo

Proverbs 31, the King James Text

October 1, 2012

I am starting this month of study with the actual King James text

and a few scriptural references for this chapter…

Read it, soak it up, and let it speak to you a little.

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1 The words of king Lemuel, the prophecy that his mother taught him.

2 What, my son? and what, the son of my womb? and what, the son of my vows?

3 Give not thy strength unto women, nor thy ways to that which destroyeth kings.

4 It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine; nor for princes strong drink:

5 Lest they drink, and forget the law, and pervert the judgement of any of the afflicted.

6 Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish, and wine unto those that be of heavy hearts.

7 Let him drink, and forget his poverty, and remember his misery no more.

8 Open thy mouth for the dumb in the cause of all such as are appointed to destruction.

9 Open thy mouth, judge righteously, and plead the cause of the poor and needy.

10 Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies.

11 The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil.

12 She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life.

13 She seeketh wool, and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands.

14 She is like the merchants’ ships; she bringeth her food from afar.

15 She riseth also while it is yet night, and giveth meat to her household, and a portion to her maidens.

16 She considereth a field, and buyeth it: with the fruit of her hands she planteth a vineyard.

17 She girdeth her loins with strength, and strengtheneth her arms.

18 She perceiveth that her merchandise is good: her candle goeth not out by night.

19 She layeth her hands to the spindle, and her hands hold the distaff.

20 She stretcheth out her hand to the poor; yea, she reacheth forth her hands to the needy.

21 She is not afraid of the snow for her household: for all her household are clothed with scarlet.

22 She maketh herself coverings of tapestry; her clothing is silk and purple.

23 Her husband is known in the gates, when he sitteth among the elders of the land.

24 She maketh fine linen, and selleth it; and delivereth girdles unto the merchant.

25 Strength and honour are her clothing; and she shall rejoice in time to come.

26 She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness.

27 She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness.

28 Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her.

29 Many daughters have done virtuously, but thou excellest them all.

30 Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised.

31 Give her of the fruit of her hands; and let her own works praise her in the gates.

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References:

Job 29: 15, 16
I Samuel 19:4
Esther 4:16
Leviticus 19:15
Deuteronomy 1:16
Job 29:12
Isaiah 1:17
Jeremiah 22:16
Psalm 2:12
Romans 12:11
Luke 12:42
Ephesians 4:28
Hebrews 13:16
Proverbs 12:4
Psalm 19:9

Thanks for reading!

See you tomorrow for a look

at the history, speaker, and context of this chapter.

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