“Hello, sun in my face. Hello you who made the morning and spread it over the fields…Watch, now, how I start the day in happiness, in kindness.” ― Mary Oliver
Even though there is lots of work still to be done
And we are in the middle of third cutting of hay
With hay customers coming on a regular basis
We took a day off and went on a fun
Road trip
Breaks…so necessary
And a whole lot of fun!
From my world to your heart,
Linda
The smoke blew away during the day. Leaving us with soft puffy white clouds.
There were two new fires yesterday…one in Gateway,
And one around Delores, Colorado—adding to smoke coming over the Uncompahgre Plateau
Still, there were moments of the bluer sky and puffer white clouds
Still, there was a rightness in our yard and on the farm
The little hummingbirds buzzed around us as we moved to and fro and in and out
Their movements and chatter a melody.
It’s easy to stop all work and just sit still watching them
Letting time and work slip by like water in the canal
The silence left, after the wind dies down, filled with the buzz
Of tiny wings
And chatter as they vie for places along the feeders
Peace
and tranquility, and calm
Experienced while watching those tiny flying jewels called Hummingbirds.
From my world to your heart,
Linda
It isn’t even shades of gray
It’s full of color and beauty and a whole list of wonderous growing things
It’s full of those small things. Things that are made up of seconds, even moments, filling time until minutes accrue
Each second heaping onto one another; riding piggy-back until it becomes a whole day
And that whole day becomes your life.
Gradually the day winds down and the night comes on
The distant sun shrouded in clouds and smoke. The last burst of color fills our eyes as the day cools and the sun sinks into the west.
Reminding us to give Thanks for the gift of one more day!
From my world to your heart,
Linda
Every day we have wind, sometimes all day, sometimes only in the afternoon, sometimes just before nightfall. Sometimes it lasts forever, sometimes for only a few hours.
The wind brings with it the smoke
Or it drives the smoke out and away
One never knows.
The smoke is ominous. Shouting loud and clear that the forests are struggling
The animals, bugs, and plants sobbing in fear. My heart breaks for all of them.
We can still see one of the massive fires on the Uncompahgre Plateau (there are two up there). At last count, there were fires in Parachute, Rangely, Meeker, Oak Creek, Parshall, Basalt, Hartsel, Cahone, and Cortez.
I’m not sure if the one in Crawford is out or not.
Then there are those massive fires in California, and Idaho, Canada, and other places in the west.
The light streaming through the smoke is beautiful, strong and striking.
The air feels sinister.
The bell is ringing.
From my world to your heart,
Linda
The Third cutting of hay is occurring right now, even as I write!
It’s early this year. By about three weeks.
But when it’s ready to cut, it’s ready!
The third cutting of rich, thick alfafa…drying in the sun. Soon to be made into hay!
Your friend on a western Colorado farm
Linda
I’ve been taking a few minutes around four in the afternoon to do something rather enjoyable
It’s nothing spectacular, or show-stopping
I’ve challenged myself to ‘not get obsessed’, to work in stages and enjoy the process and the colors more than getting one done and moving on to another so I can make something of the creations.
I am working on creating crepe-paper flowers.
This a real flower. My crepe-paper flowers have a long way to go before they really do start looking like real flowers.
That’s okay. I’m enjoying myself, it’s a tiny break in the day, and there really is nothing I can do with them anyway but look at them.
Your friend on a western Colorado farm,
Linda
The smoke from all the fires…fires in Utah, two on the Uncompahgre Plateau (which you can’t see right now because of the smoke), the one at Crawford, over at Rifle, three at Meeker, one in Parachute…
Terry said…”Let’s go for a ride!”
Who could turn THAT down? Not me!
Off we went…traveling here and there, then home again.
Later that evening…much later. The smoke thinned somewhat and I saw MARS!
Running in to get my camera I was delighted to actually have a photo of that stunning red planet!
Your friend on a western Colorado farm,
Linda
I’m tired. I don’t know why. I can’t seem to ‘get myself together’
There is always something I need to do or get done or should have been done yesterday
Although, I know I am busy all the time.
I feel like I am standing in one spot spinning my wheels
Everywhere I look there is something I should be doing, although…the should is as far as I seem to get
Part of it is my age…I just don’t get as much done as I used to even as short a time ago as a couple of years.
Terry’s and my day starts early 4:30 or 5:00 at the latest
And it ends at dark. Sometimes, though, we do just sit outside enjoying the evening light (as you well know.)
And we have been fortunate to have visitors which breaks up the monotony of work
Still, I often wonder where time has gone.
There is still some painting I need to do on the house, the windows need to be washed, dusting and other mundane things to accomplish
Just the thought of all that work makes me…
Well, tired.
Then coming in from the last set of water, passing one of the ditches…Terry and I came across
A little message written in mud: “Hi Grandpa” it says.
Even though still weary…tired to the bone, even…the joy of being this age is immense.
For without the ages Terry and I are; there wouldn’t be those precious grandchildren…who leave little messages in the mud.
From my world to your heart,
Linda
The sun sets with brilliant colors only seen through smoke and ash
Another fire broke out behind us...on the Uncompahgre Plateau….closer to the Nucla, Colorado side.
The fat lovely moon rises pink in the evening sky
Then as the night darkens and the air starts to crisp the moon breaks clear of the low lying smoke and ash
It breaks forth in a clear and marvelous wonder, casting moon shadows on the land… and filling the earth with its marvelous glow.
Terry and I sat outside on the swing, as the leaves made shadows as we slowly rocked to and fro. (Boomer besides us and Mindy on Terry’s lap)
From my world to your heart,
Linda
My delightful blog friend who lives in Burgandy, France in the Summertime, and Milan, Italy the rest of the time sent me this lovely
Rainbow! 🙂
“Hi, Linda,
We were waiting for rain but the storm clouds passed us by with a couple harmless rumbles and then this.
x Charlotte”
Aww, the beauty of a French rainbow!
Thank you, Charlotte!
Saturday afternoon the wind arrived…it blows daily, for some reason this year. Has blown every day since March.
But coming with this wind was a RAINSTORM!! Enough to actually leave us puddles
Everything dried up quickly, but for a short while…moisture.
The rain chutes as the sun was setting were stunning.
Saturday evening was very nice!
From my heart to your world,
Linda
Life on a Colorado Farm 