How quickly plants develop in the Spring! Iris is about to burst into bloom, as are peonies. The lilac bushes are fragrant. Sweet William now makes its appearance and adds to the purple-pinks -- the first blooms of the season.
Grass needs to be mowed again and the light rain will help it grow. Of course, that means hayfields, too, thankfully.
Life is busy, busy. I'm losing the race against time and will soon accept that I cannot keep up with the pace of Mother Nature. So, I do what I can do and try to be philosophical about it.
Showing posts with label Philosophy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Philosophy. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Unexpected Linkages
The apricot tree and one of the peach trees are blooming today. I am nervous that we will have a hard frost which will destroy the fruit. I guess there's nothing to do but wait and see.
Because I have a project or two in the works, I wanted to finish up the books I've been reading so that I can go on to the next. Yes, I read two books simultaneously -- 'not sure why -- but they seemed totally unrelated when I started them. By the time I was finished this week, however, I found that their subject matters converged in a most unexpected way.
The Poisonwood Bible
is by Barbara Kingsolver, one of my favorite authors, and is a fictional account of a family which went to the Congo to "man" a mission outpost with the father, who was a Minister.
The Family is a history of the Fundamentalist Organization which has managed to infiltrate the US government.
So, I was thinking I was reading one book on politics and one novel, not realizing that both books cover religion and politics. The role of the US in undermining democratically elected leaders around the world and replacing them with dictators willing to exploit their countries is central to both books. Both contained historical information, as Kingsolver did massive amounts of research on the Congo and lived there briefly as a child.
Both books taught me what I hadn't known before and both books presented challenging ideas regarding religious belief and its effect on politics.
I've read The Shock Doctrine, so I'm aware of the pattern of US involvement in regime change, but the reign of Mobutu didn't get much press here. I do remember the name Patrice Lumumba from my younger days, but didn't quite understand what happened in the 1960s in the Congo.
Coincidentally, today I listened to a podcast which related the story of an American girl who corresponded with Manuel Noriega, of Panama, before he was jailed and deposed through an American invasion in the late 1980s.
Now, if you can figure out the linkage of the first sentence of this post to the rest, you will have given your brain a workout which will serve you well.
Because I have a project or two in the works, I wanted to finish up the books I've been reading so that I can go on to the next. Yes, I read two books simultaneously -- 'not sure why -- but they seemed totally unrelated when I started them. By the time I was finished this week, however, I found that their subject matters converged in a most unexpected way.
The Poisonwood Bible
is by Barbara Kingsolver, one of my favorite authors, and is a fictional account of a family which went to the Congo to "man" a mission outpost with the father, who was a Minister.
The Family is a history of the Fundamentalist Organization which has managed to infiltrate the US government.
So, I was thinking I was reading one book on politics and one novel, not realizing that both books cover religion and politics. The role of the US in undermining democratically elected leaders around the world and replacing them with dictators willing to exploit their countries is central to both books. Both contained historical information, as Kingsolver did massive amounts of research on the Congo and lived there briefly as a child.
Both books taught me what I hadn't known before and both books presented challenging ideas regarding religious belief and its effect on politics.
I've read The Shock Doctrine, so I'm aware of the pattern of US involvement in regime change, but the reign of Mobutu didn't get much press here. I do remember the name Patrice Lumumba from my younger days, but didn't quite understand what happened in the 1960s in the Congo.
Coincidentally, today I listened to a podcast which related the story of an American girl who corresponded with Manuel Noriega, of Panama, before he was jailed and deposed through an American invasion in the late 1980s.
Now, if you can figure out the linkage of the first sentence of this post to the rest, you will have given your brain a workout which will serve you well.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Tinkerbelle's Adventure
Spring marches on relentlessly.
Lilacs fill the air with fragrance. The peonies have their little ball buds and amazingly, flag iris are ready to bloom.
It's been cool and rainy. Fine with me. Seedlings are safe and sound in the greenhouse, developing nicely, thank you. I can see peas, beets, and spinach coming up outside. I transplanted some Oriental greens outside and also scattered seeds in small beds
Baby bucklings have all gone to new homes. The goats were stuck inside much of yesterday because they don't like rain and mud. Again the barn needs raking and new shavings in stalls and hallways.
Of course there's a clutch of little chicks with their determined mommie chicken. You can't get through Spring without chicks, whether you want them or not. She tricked me!
On the cow front, Tinkerbelle -- one of the six belles I received in a trade for an old tractor one year -- Lulubelle, Annabelle, Jezebelle, Clarabelle... -- well, anyway, somehow Tinkie, as I call her, got on the other side of the fence. She has access to the pastures the goats are in and is chomping grass with reckless abandon, ignoring her cow buddies who are somewhat concerned about her independent spirit.
Yes, Tinkie was the cow rescued from under a round bale one year when she managed to get into a hay shed. She recovered and hasn't learned any lesson at all from that experience. Evidently, she doesn't have a new calf currently or there'd be a lot of bawling -- as when she managed to get into our fenced woods on one of her other adventures.
Tinkerbelle's girth belies her name, as she is not fairy-like at all, except for the fact that she has magical powers and can, evidently, fly over fences.
Ah, Tinkie, you embody the non-conformist explorer. You are the symbol of independent thought and innovation. May you grow and prosper.
...but I'll get you yet!
Lilacs fill the air with fragrance. The peonies have their little ball buds and amazingly, flag iris are ready to bloom.
It's been cool and rainy. Fine with me. Seedlings are safe and sound in the greenhouse, developing nicely, thank you. I can see peas, beets, and spinach coming up outside. I transplanted some Oriental greens outside and also scattered seeds in small beds
Baby bucklings have all gone to new homes. The goats were stuck inside much of yesterday because they don't like rain and mud. Again the barn needs raking and new shavings in stalls and hallways.
Of course there's a clutch of little chicks with their determined mommie chicken. You can't get through Spring without chicks, whether you want them or not. She tricked me!
On the cow front, Tinkerbelle -- one of the six belles I received in a trade for an old tractor one year -- Lulubelle, Annabelle, Jezebelle, Clarabelle... -- well, anyway, somehow Tinkie, as I call her, got on the other side of the fence. She has access to the pastures the goats are in and is chomping grass with reckless abandon, ignoring her cow buddies who are somewhat concerned about her independent spirit.
Yes, Tinkie was the cow rescued from under a round bale one year when she managed to get into a hay shed. She recovered and hasn't learned any lesson at all from that experience. Evidently, she doesn't have a new calf currently or there'd be a lot of bawling -- as when she managed to get into our fenced woods on one of her other adventures.
Tinkerbelle's girth belies her name, as she is not fairy-like at all, except for the fact that she has magical powers and can, evidently, fly over fences.
Ah, Tinkie, you embody the non-conformist explorer. You are the symbol of independent thought and innovation. May you grow and prosper.
...but I'll get you yet!
Friday, January 16, 2009
Currently Reading
It's four degrees this morning. I won't be lingering out in the barns today. It'll be a matter of doing the basics quickly and getting back inside somewhere.
I've knitted a pair of socks (pink) which I'll try out today to keep my feet warm. 'Been writing, reading, sorting, and catching up on little computer- and telephone-related jobs for the Farmers' group. I'll probably also work on lesson plans for the semi-advanced cheesemaking workshop which I'd like to offer in the next couple of months. Some baking is in order. That'll warm up the kitchen.
Anyway, it's come to my attention that there are actually people in this world who care to read about what I'm reading currently. I've just finished John Grisham's, The Innocent Man
which I highly recommend. John Grisham's books are books I read in a matter of a few days. I'm sure I could read one in a day if I did not have other responsibilities.
If you read The Innocent Man, you'll probably become aware, quickly, of the widespread injustice in our "justice system." It'll make you mad. That will make you warmer. This is true crime, not fiction.
Right now, I'm reading Frank McCourt's, Teacher Man: A Memoir
. This book will warm your heart. There is something so engaging in McCourt's humor and intelligent writing that makes it enjoyable. He manages to inject a bit of pathos while making you smile. Would this be a wry smile, then?
I was a teacher for many years, and I relate to some of the comments about the strange system of American education and the little regard the public has for teachers. It's ironic that good teachers are so little appreciated. Actually, I was surprised that teaching is something I'm good at. I find that I'm learning as I'm teaching. I dream about it sometimes, but would hesitate for a long time before considering taking it on again.
The most hopeful thing I found in this book is that McCourt did not publish his first book Angela's Ashes: A Memoir
until he was 66 years old. His second book, 'Tis: A Memoir
was published three years later. There's time for me yet!
Well, as I finish writing this, I notice it is up to 8 degrees. Time to suit up and get out to the barn. Today, I think I'll wear one of every color and make sure nothing matches.
Ta ta.
I've knitted a pair of socks (pink) which I'll try out today to keep my feet warm. 'Been writing, reading, sorting, and catching up on little computer- and telephone-related jobs for the Farmers' group. I'll probably also work on lesson plans for the semi-advanced cheesemaking workshop which I'd like to offer in the next couple of months. Some baking is in order. That'll warm up the kitchen.
Anyway, it's come to my attention that there are actually people in this world who care to read about what I'm reading currently. I've just finished John Grisham's, The Innocent Man
which I highly recommend. John Grisham's books are books I read in a matter of a few days. I'm sure I could read one in a day if I did not have other responsibilities. If you read The Innocent Man, you'll probably become aware, quickly, of the widespread injustice in our "justice system." It'll make you mad. That will make you warmer. This is true crime, not fiction.
Right now, I'm reading Frank McCourt's, Teacher Man: A Memoir
. This book will warm your heart. There is something so engaging in McCourt's humor and intelligent writing that makes it enjoyable. He manages to inject a bit of pathos while making you smile. Would this be a wry smile, then?I was a teacher for many years, and I relate to some of the comments about the strange system of American education and the little regard the public has for teachers. It's ironic that good teachers are so little appreciated. Actually, I was surprised that teaching is something I'm good at. I find that I'm learning as I'm teaching. I dream about it sometimes, but would hesitate for a long time before considering taking it on again.
The most hopeful thing I found in this book is that McCourt did not publish his first book Angela's Ashes: A Memoir
until he was 66 years old. His second book, 'Tis: A Memoir was published three years later. There's time for me yet!Well, as I finish writing this, I notice it is up to 8 degrees. Time to suit up and get out to the barn. Today, I think I'll wear one of every color and make sure nothing matches.
Ta ta.
Thursday, January 01, 2009
New Year and Life in the Slow Lane
Yesterday morning, I sat at this desk looking out on a sky filled with pink tinged clouds. Those clouds stayed all day and into the night. The wind was howling and blowing so much that the goats decided against venturing outside the barn.
This morning, the sky is clear and it is fifteen degrees outside with no wind at all.
I amused myself by reading some of my favorite blogs, shopping online, knitting on my second pink sock of the series, and watching the Forensic channel while doing inside chores.
Becky, at Peevish Pen, featured a quiz on Quizzila: What Druid Animal are You? She was an Earth Dragon! Exotic. Anita's comment was that she came out a Wise Salmon. That's pretty neat. So, I took the quiz.
Dog. Dog! What an insult. How un-exotic. Dog?
But, when I went back and read my profile, it suited me, I must admit.
Dog... Man's best friend and also an animal of guidance, loyalty and protection. You are a companion to friends in this life and in the next. You are a guardian of the Mysteries and can lead us over the threshold into the Goddesses realm. Protect all you hold sacred and share your experience with those who need it most.
Yep, that's me all right. Woof.
Sunday, January 27, 2008
The Milk of Human Kindness
On Friday afternoon, my friend Ginger came over with four of her kids to clean out barn stalls. This was labor bartered for milk buckets. We all pitched in and raked out the maternity barn, all the while playing musical goats to pen them while we cleaned.
The baby goats tend to get under foot, especially the little "ice princess" who was a bottle baby by necessity, as her mother had been in deep shock, having kidded in the extreme cold. The first kid, a buckling, only made it for a day, but the doeling seemed healthy and hungry, so I fed her until her momma's hormones kicked in. When Una was ready and eager to feed her baby, baby was rejecting her, preferring the baby bottle she was used to. She tended to follow me around, believing that there must be milk in my legs somewhere, while her mother followed HER, wanting desperately to nurse her.
I asked Maggie, the goat tender on her family farm, to please sit on the floor and try to get the baby to nurse. My arthritis makes it hard for me to do that.
Meanwhile, we cleaned and cleaned, Patrick hauled cartloads of used hay and sawdust out to the pile. The littlest girls, Rose and Nora, filled buckets with clean sawdust and spread it on the floor after each stall was cleaned out. Clean hay was placed in racks, water buckets were filled. All was clean and dry and mothers matched up with babies for grain feeding before we left.
Maggie was successful in getting the "ice princess" to nurse! Hallelujia! What a revelation to the little goat that a constant supply of perfectly delicious, warm milk was hovering nearby all along.
We moved on to the big barn for a while, and great progress was made. The days spent attending kidding goats had put me behind in the barn cleaning business.
I think the (human) kids actually enjoyed the experience. I know I appreciated the help.
The baby goats tend to get under foot, especially the little "ice princess" who was a bottle baby by necessity, as her mother had been in deep shock, having kidded in the extreme cold. The first kid, a buckling, only made it for a day, but the doeling seemed healthy and hungry, so I fed her until her momma's hormones kicked in. When Una was ready and eager to feed her baby, baby was rejecting her, preferring the baby bottle she was used to. She tended to follow me around, believing that there must be milk in my legs somewhere, while her mother followed HER, wanting desperately to nurse her.
I asked Maggie, the goat tender on her family farm, to please sit on the floor and try to get the baby to nurse. My arthritis makes it hard for me to do that.
Meanwhile, we cleaned and cleaned, Patrick hauled cartloads of used hay and sawdust out to the pile. The littlest girls, Rose and Nora, filled buckets with clean sawdust and spread it on the floor after each stall was cleaned out. Clean hay was placed in racks, water buckets were filled. All was clean and dry and mothers matched up with babies for grain feeding before we left.
Maggie was successful in getting the "ice princess" to nurse! Hallelujia! What a revelation to the little goat that a constant supply of perfectly delicious, warm milk was hovering nearby all along.
We moved on to the big barn for a while, and great progress was made. The days spent attending kidding goats had put me behind in the barn cleaning business.
I think the (human) kids actually enjoyed the experience. I know I appreciated the help.
Friday, December 21, 2007
Solstice
My world is white outside this morning. Light snow has fallen, which I expect will be gone by noon.
It's the first day of Winter and, in a sense, the first day of the New Agricultural Year. The light, which has been waning since the Summer Solstice, will now increase by small increments each day. As a result, more eggs will be laid. The plants in the greenhouse will begin to put out new growth. All animals and plants respond to the light, despite all the technological advances we live with.
Hope and optimism are the watchwords of the Winter Solstice. I will light a candle in tonight's darkness to celebrate it.
It's the first day of Winter and, in a sense, the first day of the New Agricultural Year. The light, which has been waning since the Summer Solstice, will now increase by small increments each day. As a result, more eggs will be laid. The plants in the greenhouse will begin to put out new growth. All animals and plants respond to the light, despite all the technological advances we live with.
Hope and optimism are the watchwords of the Winter Solstice. I will light a candle in tonight's darkness to celebrate it.
Sunday, December 24, 2006
Christmas Eve Will Find Me...
Christmas Eve morning found me in the barn, as usual, raking out stalls and moving “wasted” hay into them. The Lessons and Carols from Cambridge soared throughout, thanks to the radio. My barn became a cathedral or symphony hall for the morning while I worked.
I do not listen for the religious content, but rather for the hope that choral music gives. It is awesome to think that humans can cooperate in a group effort to create such majesty.
“Away in a Manger” -- I wonder if city dwellers know what a manger is. Wasted hay is something goat keepers know about. Goats pull hay out of the manger to eat. What falls on the ground and is stepped on, they will not eat. Goats are pretty careful about that. Good thing, too, because they would be ingesting dirt and parasites otherwise. Now cows -- cows are a different story…
I walk back and forth, dumping buckets of the truly dirty hay and manure raked out and returning with forks full of the relatively clean waste hay. I make the stalls cozy for cold nights and the kidding which I anticipate next month.
I think about the other side of the human coin of cooperation and of how humans can cooperate beautifully to do terrible things. Genocide, religious and ethnic cleansing, for example. I wonder what it is in the human psyche that makes so many want to belong to an exclusive group -- even at the risk of losing their humanity in so doing. I think about the willingness of so many to give up individuality and the ability to do just what I am doing -- questioning man’s place in the universe.
I do not listen for the religious content, but rather for the hope that choral music gives. It is awesome to think that humans can cooperate in a group effort to create such majesty.
“Away in a Manger” -- I wonder if city dwellers know what a manger is. Wasted hay is something goat keepers know about. Goats pull hay out of the manger to eat. What falls on the ground and is stepped on, they will not eat. Goats are pretty careful about that. Good thing, too, because they would be ingesting dirt and parasites otherwise. Now cows -- cows are a different story…
I walk back and forth, dumping buckets of the truly dirty hay and manure raked out and returning with forks full of the relatively clean waste hay. I make the stalls cozy for cold nights and the kidding which I anticipate next month.
I think about the other side of the human coin of cooperation and of how humans can cooperate beautifully to do terrible things. Genocide, religious and ethnic cleansing, for example. I wonder what it is in the human psyche that makes so many want to belong to an exclusive group -- even at the risk of losing their humanity in so doing. I think about the willingness of so many to give up individuality and the ability to do just what I am doing -- questioning man’s place in the universe.
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