I collaborated with Meezer Express to help two Siamese cats come into rescue/foster.  I was one of four total legs of driving that transported them from Connecticut to New Hampshire.

Three days of de hoarding.  One image cannot capture the extent of how good the house is starting to look!

pink and orange sunrise over the tree line in Akron.  it was strange to be up this early.

Up early to beat the snow home on the drive back to MA.

The stories it could tell…

Been there as long as I can recall, empty and lost.

Firefighter-owned pick-up truck.

Your private-owned response vehicle can say a lot about you.  I see honor, respect, pride and strength…

Little dresser for Beth’s new cardboard box Barbie condo complex.

Chai asleep in the chair.  New Year 2011 welcomed in with grace, poise, and quiet trust on her part.

The big Morgan Championship show takes place every year in Oklahoma. “Oklahoma”. It’s a word that rolls hesitantly off the tongues of many. Is my horse good enough? Am I? Are we a strong enough team? Some make the choice easily. I make the choice with much [...]]]>

Oklahoma Soup…

The big Morgan Championship show takes place every year in Oklahoma. “Oklahoma”. It’s a word that rolls hesitantly off the tongues of many. Is my horse good enough? Am I? Are we a strong enough team? Some make the choice easily. I make the choice with much thought.

Events roll along in the most unusual way sometimes. People make choices about how perceive their own Selves, how to re-invent themselves when something in their lives isn’t working. People take the smallest pieces of their life, shake away the biggest, hardest lumps, and move forward boldly after giving up something that breaks their heart. It’s like making home-made soup. Everyone does it differently.

It’s so easy to see only the blocks, worries, anticipation and fear. It’s funny to think that THAT is easy, and finding the good stuff (like those yummy potatoes) is hard. So, I have this game.

My game started long ago, before I even knew what it was. There are lots of places I played it that have bent influences toward this one moment in my life, but I don’t need to recall all of them. I’ll leave that to be fully chronicled and double-checked by Doctor Who. But one of the most pivotal times I played this game was when I decided to buy a horse farm.

I once saw a person create the life they wanted very much for themselves. I saw them manifest their dream. I took that feeling of confidence and plain simple knowledge that it will be, and I did it. I said to myself, “What happens when I do….this?” I didn’t worry about the outcome, I didn’t second guess, doubt, back away, get scared or anything…ok, well, I did. But it didn’t last. I returned to the playful feeling of “What if?” There was, of course, obvious research, review and barn visitation activity to make the best viable choice, but the point is, I kept it fun. I played. I made farm soup. And it is tasty!

From the farm soup came lots of other soups that have been great successes. There are the batches that didn’t turn out so well, but that’s ok. That is what playing is about. Play to have fun, play to learn, play to get a couple of bad tasting soups with waaayyyy too much pepper. What do we do with a bad batch of soup? I pour it down the sink or feed it to the chickens, but I let it go. And start the next batch…

The latest soup is Oklahoma soup. It’s a really fun soup! It’s pretty special. These types of soup don’t come around too often. They are thick and hearty, with lots of good, nourishing, life sustaining home-grown veggies and stuff in them. It takes a lot of different people donating different ingredients from their gardens to make it good.

So play for fun, try some new soups, toss out the bad batches and move on to the next one. Take little sips and see what happens. You’ll get to enjoy your own version of Oklahoma Soup!

Oklahoma, here we come!

Ericka and Scotty

8/4/2010

Horse and lixit.

Look carefully and you can see the tongue.

This flower blooms every year, and I have no idea what it is.  Not a hibiscus, they are not this big.

The bloom measures about 10 inches in diameter and I believe we planted it in 2004.

It has bloomed every year since we had Beth.

Right now, [...]]]>

This flower blooms every year, and I have no idea what it is.  Not a hibiscus, they are not this big.

The bloom measures about 10 inches in diameter and I believe we planted it in 2004.

It has bloomed every year since we had Beth.

Right now, it has what our chaplain calls “Jesus” blooms.  They haven’t opened yet, but are starting to show what their potential will be!  And there are 8 of them!

I love it.