November 21, 2008 – Cold, clear. Beautiful stars out and so clear and easy to see. I used to have this idea that I might find a long stretch of peace and calm if only I did the work and cleared my head of all the debris, confusion and fear. I am learning that life is different than that, that peace appears suddenly and abruptly, and can sometimes be missed.
  The life intervenes and appears and  reappears and has to be dealt with. There is no such thing, really, as a long interval of peace, only moments of love, discovery and calm punctuated repeatedly by the nature of life, which is unpredictable, relentless, and challenging. A farm teaches this lesson, as do other things. On a farm, life intervenes constantly – broken fences and pipes, moldy hay, sick animals, mud, ice and rain and snow, leaks, bats and rot. Then, in a moment, you walk up the hill, look up, and encounter a donkey grazing or some sheep taking in the sun, and peace erupts. I am grateful for these moments, and am learning to see and savor them, and to give up the idea that peace comes in long and dreamy chunks. Peaceful places pop up here and now, and they are sweet.