There….patiently waiting in my email was this lovely little note from Charlotte—
Found in our garden in (Burgundy) France. Just out in the yard among the thousands of rocks in the courtyard.
X Charlotte
There…for her a perfect stillness, just waiting to be noticed.
Then for me…the solitude of a heart in nature.
Now…for you to share with us!
From my world to your heart,
Linda
Yesterday was my Momma’s birthday. If she were alive today she would have turned 88.
Saturday, August 5th, we woke to a world full of low, dark clouds, following a night of gusting wind and hard heavy rain. Although, the clouds started to thin, my thoughts still remained heavy…sadly I was missing Momma. ( I know that many of you can relate to this type of sorrow…the swirl of memories of that one person, whose heart beat alongside yours…right from the beginning.)
Often times throughout my life I was told that I looked like my Momma.
Looking back over old photos — at certain times and in certain ages I can see the similarities. But I must confess I didn’t while I was growing up. 
Momma was one of those ‘good souls’. She was gentle and kind and given to helping every animal who came within her reach. Maybe in today’s world she would have been a Veterinarian.
Often times ‘people’ would say of her Daddy…”He would give his shirt off his back to help you.” Momma followed in his footsteps.
Momma gave all the little children who followed the fruit (people who came to pick fruit) clothes from our own closets, often times their very first (and only) birthday cake and a small party…those children remembering her kindly wrote to her for years and years…letters telling her about their marriages, the birth of their children…that first real job. She treasured those letters.
She always, always told me life was full of turbulence and cares, which can make a heart heavy….we, as human beings, do not need to add to sorrows of another’s soul.
Ah, well, memories are wonderful! But they do have a tendency to cause my eyes to blur with tears — misting the day…even though the sun broke forth from the clouds.
Momma died August 10, 2000…her heart stopped; cutting her life’s threads, which bound her to this earth.
But the thing that gives me the most peace, about that most ordinary day, that wasn’t ordinary after all….was Momma was ready to go.
A few days before she died—- she had just returned from a long and wonderful trip to Ireland. My brother took her. They saw everything possible, spent a night in a castle, walked on that green, green Isle she dreamed of walking on all her life.
An old old dream of her heart.
She told me: “I am finally at peace, Linda. There is nothing more I want to see or do. It is the most amazing, but odd feeling, to have nothing forward to accomplish.”
Hours later I was rushing to the hospital, following the ambulance…time passes slow when you NEED to GET THERE.
But finally I made it—Momma waited for me. She also waited for my Brother…although she was in a coma. Then in the night’s heart she left.
I miss her still. I always will. I love you, Momma. I love you.
I know each of you understand.
From my heart to your world,
Linda
Besides going out with Mom
Helping Dad change the water
I have a really big job!
It’s to keep the farm safe!
I have much to do—those crazy raccoons are so brave they walk RIGHT IN FRONT OF MY DOG HOUSE! I know because they always leave a little poop behind.
That’s why I’ve taken to sleeping outside…MY CHOICE!
Mom brings me inside, but … well, you know … there are critters outside!
I chase off the
The deer have been pretty hard on the corn.
You see they eat the silk…
the silk is what feeds the little kernels of corn so they will fatten up and become
BIG FAT JUICY KERNELS of corn
It’s been pretty hard work this year, but so far I’ve been able to do it.
I am feeling well again.
Mom says that is a very good thing!
I agree!
Boomer
“Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts.”–Rachel Carson
I must confess I have a favorite word…it is a word I don’t use often, nor do I find ways to incorporate it into my conversations…like those common words: COOL, DUDE, YA KNOW…I don’t even sprinkle in this word here and there
but it is a word I think describes how I feel on a daily basis….
The word is Dazzle.
I feel dazzled as sun touches the word’s edge…morning or evening
Or the glittering lights sparkle on the ripples, making the rather muddy irrigation water twinkle like jewels — sending a blessing to all the water touches
Even the run, to check water, in the deep silence of the night brings out the sky drenched with twinkling stars, or moonlight seeping into everything — turning the world to silver
I feel a most profound and deep joy when the horizon is edged with a Rainbow…
Or the color of flowers is captured in a heap of clouds
I must confess I am most blessed…living on this amazing earth, which sails noiselessly between the stars
Dazzled…that pretty much sums up how I feel about life.
From my world to your heart,
Linda
Our oldest granddaughter just returned from spending several days and nights at Lake Powell, Utah with her BFF and family.
While they were there she was able to capture some lightning with her IPhone!
She generously said I could share them with you.
Even the sheet lightning was spectacular!
Someday…someday I hope to get a photo or two…until then, those of you who capture the lightning BRAVO! A Job Well Done!
Your friend on a western Colorado farm,
Linda
We were heading into town one day last week and came to the stop in the road which takes us to the bypass; thus on into town…
OOPS! Someone lost a huge straw bale.
Terry says straw is very slick and hard to stay stable on a load….I think this photo agrees with his statement! 🙂
Your friend on a western Colorado farm,
Linda
Around four o’clock yesterday afternoon a wind-fretted bundle of clouds blew in churning the air into a seething angry mess!
The little hummingbirds started feeding in a desperate and determined manner.
Suddenly the wind shifted moved west, then north, and finally east, where it slammed into our area with a vengeance untold
Dropping rain in torrent, flattening anything which stood in it’s path.
Then in swirl of angst the wind-fretted rain moved on…drenching everything in it’s path.
By evening the sun started disappearing; sending slivers of gold and silver among the slate colored clouds.
This morning is clear and bright, although very muddy! The smells of warming corn stalks and the heady scent of Four O’clocks fill the air. Along with the chirps and clicks and the buzz of many little wings as the hummers fill their tummies.
Your friend on a western Colorado farm,
Linda
We took a wee ride in the late evening air…
The crescent moon gliding through patches of simmering clouds —gradually gave way to clouds; gathered and darkened—- promising rain somewhere—either where we were driving or in the distance
Although, the clouds were gray and low; the drops of rain stayed off as we started back home.
Then the miracle appeared!
The sun shining between a slit in the clouds scattered in the west
A partial rainbow or a sundog (omen of cooler weather to arrive in three days). I wasn’t sure which one: sundog or rainbow…I did not care! To me it was beautiful!
Then the sun sank…
Turning the rain-filled western sky into a matching set of colors!
From my world to your heart!
Linda
Mom is such an old bore….whenever I go anywhere with her I have to STAY RIGHT BY MOM!!!
We finished weeding the second pinto bean field…and I had to STAY RIGHT BY HER!!!
We had to go clean up a big branch that broke at my sister, Shannon’s yard…and I had to stay “CLOSE BY”!!!
Romeo took a big escape and hoofed it over to our yard…Mom and I took him to the canal pasture, but I had to STAY WITH MOM!
If Mom and Dad walk somewhere I get to walk with them…
I can walk ahead or behind, but I have to walk where MOM CAN SEE ME!
You see there is Rabbit Fever on Grand Mesa—so Mom is afraid it might be down here. She says I’ve been too sick to get myself exposed to something awful again. She says fleas carry Rabbit Fever and all animals in the wild get fleas! (Rabbit fever: An infection in rabbits and other wild rodents caused by the bacterium Francisella tularensis that can be transmitted to humans by contact with infected animal tissues or ticks. Also called tularemia.)
When my youngest sister and Linkin came to visit and they walked Shannon’s dog…Mom did NOT let me go with them!
Changing water I have to “SIT! Stay!” on the four-wheeler.
I think I have a
helicopter Mom!
Boomer, Mom’s Beaglie!
The last two days we enjoyed rain showers…sometimes the rain rode the sky in the morning
Or kissed the earth on a mid-night wind
At points the rain came in wild and untamed—
Cooling down the earth, so at one point we lived within a cloud
The moisture from the warm earth rising up to meet the cool air…fog –a most glorious and unusual gift in the high mountain desert!
Then yesterday the clouds all scuttered away on high wind, neither seen or felt here on on our little part of the earth
Walking among the flowers I could feel the Magic of the Old Ones
It’s still here, clinging to the earth…
Lifting us up for a heartbeat
(The Red Day-lily is a gift from Marianne )
In the shadows of ancient clouds.
From my world to your heart,
Linda
