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Blessings Of The Day
The day began with the spotted twins catching a possum in the backyard. When Mrs. Orr summoned me, the poor critter was doing his award-winning act, lying on his side, teeth exposed, still as a stone. I saw his mouth flinch slightly when I picked him up by the tail, so I was pretty sure he was all right. I tossed him over the fence into the next pasture. Sure enough, when I checked on him after daybreak, he was gone. And we caught another mouse last night, this one a clean kill. The weather is getting ready to change, so the little things are seeking shelter in a warm…
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The Cold Rolling Towards Me
I began this post in longhand, sitting at my desk this morning, allegedly working, watching tufts of cool mist hanging in the air outside the glass door. This is the time of year when the nearest neighbor is separating his cows from the calves, in preparation for market. The worried mamas have been bawling all day, as they have been for the two days before. The air over the farm is anxious, fretful, which is a shame, because we’ve just gotten our first dose of fall-like weather, about 50F at night and in the mid-70s today, air as clear as an infant’s eyes, same deep blue, same lack of omens…
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Enmity Between
The first day of summer yesterday, and it felt like it. A heavy miasma of humidity hung over these mountains for the past four days, perhaps to be broken up tonight by the rain falling just now. The temperatures are supposed to be milder today, and perhaps the creatures of the land will calm down and be less restive. I celebrated Father’s Day by being snakebit. The dogs were at the side of the house, barking at something and giving it Hail Columbia when my wife went to investigate. She returned with the news that a snake was under one of the blueberry bushes. When I reached the scene, I…
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Turning Away But Not Away
The dogs let us sleep in a bit this morning, so by the time Jinx and I were out for our walk, dawn was just about to break. We stopped long enough for me to take a photo just before the sun peeked over the mountains. When the big star appeared, I took one more photo and then we turned to continue our walk. When I turned around, I saw the sunlight touch the far ridge to the west, above the cemetery. As I watched, the light traveled across the earth towards us, like a curtain of gold being drawn down. I could almost taste the air at that moment,…
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Let’s Test That Theory
Yesterday, I spent considerable time thinking on the subject of suffering and how we face trials. If suffering comes today, I thought with the glib certainty of theoretical emotion, I would be able to endure it better than in the past. In the evening, our nearest neighbor, a dear woman whom we love and appreciate, came to the door bearing gifts. She had almost two dozen large brown eggs from her son’s hens, and a sack full of tomatoes and cucumbers. We stood chatting in the fading light while the hummingbirds flew resupply missions in the muggy air above our heads. Nodding at the eggs, she said, “We’ve got to…
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Layksuh Hayull
I sat outside this morning with bible, breviary, and notebook, my coffee steaming in the cool and sugared mugginess of the day’s initial pages. Up in the woods in the direction of the new-born sun, a screech owl called, sounding as always like a tiny spectral horse whinnying. His appearance is early this year; I usually don’t hear the screech owls until mid-to-late September. And I sat and sipped and wondered if his eerie song was considered a harbinger in the mythos of any peoples. The squadron of the buzzing bullets we call hummingbirds were about their business, and watching them reminded me of something from my pilgrimage to Gethsemani…
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Feet On The Path
Through the door, I watched our little female possum, Noelle, as she ate her supper tonight. Her pouch hung quite low, touching the tips of the wet grass. I remarked on this and my wife said with large eyes, “We can’t have a bunch of baby possums running around here!” And I responded, “Well, why not?” Tomorrow I am leaving to go on a holy pilgrimage, one that I have been contemplating for quite some time. I haven’t decided yet, but I may write about it when I return. The night is heavy now, and so are my eyes, and so is my heart. And the darkness always passes……