Yikes

by Rain Trueax

Time is going by way too fast. I literally cannot believe we've been back at the farm for a month and it seems like it was yesterday.

The farm has had a lot accomplished-- hay for the winter bought and stashed in the barns; sheep shorn; fields fertilized, and fence across the creek replaced after calf got on the other side. The place was in great shape when we returned thanks to the hard work of our son, but this is the season for preparing for all the other ones. 

On the social side, we've had some time with our son, grandsons, long-time friends, and neighbors. It's not like we didn't have some of that in Tucson but less than is possible up here.

I did something weird to my wrist, which slowed me down for a little. What I think happened is I was moving the Buddha from where it had been stashed to protect it from the mouse-hunt by the cat that had brought in and released it. A week later, in moving it back, I think I twisted to set it down. Anyway although painful, it was better in a couple of days, which says not a sprain. A good warning though for me to be careful how I lift things. One of the products of aging, I suspect. 

The Buddha is not part if our following a religion although I have two of them here, one outside. If it was being treated as a shrine, it would have to be on a table. To me, what it represents is a stage in the Buddha's life. I've read that the pose stands for peaceful relationships. The glass ball was my family's, found on the Oregon Coast after storms back when Japan used these balls on their nets. They would break away and end up here after big storms. We had two and my brother has the other now. To me, the whole little scene there represents connection and positive relationships-- an important part of life.

"This statue has two meanings based on two different stories. The first meaning of Repelling The Ocean comes from a story when the Buddha visited Bihar state in India. A hermit unleashed a wall of water hoping to cause a flood, but the Buddha used the power generated from meditating to stop the water from flooding the area. The Forbidding The Relatives from Fighting is related to a period in the life of the Buddha where relatives of his father had an argument with relatives of the Buddha's mother over water, as one of the rivers that both sets of relatives normally depended on was starting to run dry. The Buddha raised his right hand to draw attention to their own bickering and asked them what was ore important; water, or their family relations?" The Buddha Garden

I believe in having symbolic things around me that represent aspects of life that I want to enhance in my own. Most wouldn't mean much to anyone, but me but a few are well known as being powerful images. As I look around my living room, nothing is pretty for pretty's sake but rather is part of my past or has meanings that when I see it, it reminds me of that time or idea.

One other little thing changed in the house here. We have an oversized chair that has a deteriorating cover. It was expensive to be reupholstered. Then at Amazon, I came across an ad for a stretch cover to supposedly fit the style of chair we had. It arrived, Ranch Boss, put it on the chair. I am so pleased and it matches the room prefectly. I don't know how well it'll last but at its price, I ordered a second one for if this one eventually wears out. Another plus-- it's washable.

My writing has gone better than it had been for a year. The new book for the series I have renamed Mystic Shadows is taking off although it still won't be done until August if all continues as it is now. I redid some covers and created a new poster to show the connection. What I wanted was to see the fantasy/paranormal books all in one series. All but one of them do share some characters; so it should work better as a series. This has turned into a fun write-- once I got to where I am now. Why wasn't it before? A mystery.

So because it's a busy time, here are some farm pictures with the sheep and turkeys mostly. Cattle are using the leased land and hence less available to pose. The guy in the first picture is Lambchop. When we were gone, he was being mostly rejected by his mother, always hunger, always crying. Our son, who is no fan of sheep, got lamb replacer and supplemented his diet, naming him as  a reminder that he was to be eaten someday. When I heard the story, I said no way. He's going to stay as one of our wethers (there are others). The idea that a sheep could be taught to trust us and then be sent off with the needed sales, that just seemed wrong.

You know, I have a hard time with raising livestock even though it's important for this land that we do so. To keep them all would mean the place would be turned into a desert and we'd be bankrupt. The compromise is to let the old ones live out their lives and once in a while, there is a Lambchop. :)