I went from a 6 bedroom home in the country & cooking daily dinners for 9 people to being alone in a 2 bedroom cottage eating ravioli from a can. So how does one recover from a divorce and kids off to college?
Domestic animals. I have created my own little hobby farm and personal antidote for idleness by adopting 3 dogs~8 cats~& 2 rabbits. Above is Brogan (half Husky & half collie) in the creek at the walking trails (photo below). We go there almost every morning for a 3 mile stroll and a cool down in the creek before heading home.
The opening photo is of Parsnip~my new addition~ a Holland Lop. Just a little squirt~his ears will fall as he grows. He looks more like a stuffed toy than a live fertilizer factory. He is very social and will add rich nutrients to the garden.
What to say about Pixie? She is another newer addition and domestic in name only otherwise a cross between a live wire and a smoking gun. Here she is attempting to entice our new kitten~Gypsy~to play. Gypsy's response? The eyes say it all as she attempts to shoot deadly laser beams from their sockets.
Pixie is only 8 weeks old and not quite 1 . 5 pounds. She has already learned to "sit"~"beg" and currently learning to "dance". However peeing outdoors seems to escape her logic. She has developed a sneaky method operandi of getting up onto the furniture by using the backs of the larger dogs as a sort of Ferry Boat. She climbs onto them and when they stand to walk she steps off and onto the couch or chairs. Dempsy demonstrates unparalleled restraint not so common to his Pit Bull/ Lab mix of genetics. Cunning~clever and more work than any animal I have ever trained. One half mini dachsund ~ 1/4 toy poodle~ 1/4 mini pin with a brain the size of a dried fig~ just slightly smaller than mine.
After an all to long morning of testing at the hospital I decided to put up some homemade pickled beets. Allot was going thru my mind in regards to my health ~ my relationships ~ and the world in general. The queer nagging desire to make beets must have been my soul's way of reconnecting with my rational flesh. There was something my inner self needed to bring to the surface and create a soothing poultice for my worried mind. Obeying my inexplicable instincts I started the beets and a funny thing happened; As I witnessed the brilliant rush of magenta from the bleeding beets and inhaled the joyous tangy awakening from the dill I was flooded with memories of my Grandmother's summer kitchen and her sharing her grandmother's recipe for pickling. Dry mustard~ clove~ & allspice all sent reminders via olfactory nerve to conjure up the past of how such simple tasks and interactions have changed my outlook~my opinion~my mood~my life.
Often times I become overwhelmed with the potential state of the world based on all the media bias and fantastically colorful & immense daily doses of subjective reality they feed us. Nothing a little home canning can't cure.
As I age uncomfortably and cling in vain to the final year of my 40's it dawns on me that I don't have to save the world. All I have to do is pickle beets. All I need to do is sweep the floors~ rub Handsome's sore neck after a long day of putting up hay ~ and listen to my son share his dreams for his future~ Because all these seemingly remote tasks really do affect the world. I am no Oppenheimer nor Dali Lama but I do matter in the grand scheme of life. Perhaps I am only the great-great Grandmother of a yet to be born scientist who will play small yet much needed role to solve a world hunger crisis. Maybe I'm just the best friend of a neighbor whom will glean some small nugget of pure love~humor or truth from my simple living & pass it along in action~word~ or prayer. For every action there is equal or greater reaction. Perhaps my process of pickling beets will send ripples of new hope beyond the time /space continuum and into a parallel universe. We are all so interconnected that in doing the day to day "ho hum" tasks
and simply being who we are' we bring about positive changes beyond our wildest dreams. The pragmatic ritual of pickling beets from my own garden has put the world in order. There is purpose and beauty in life's simplest duties~ therefore do them joyfully.
