Fate has always loved the meadow where we walk, she has always vanished into it to sniff things and chase mice and chipmunks. She has never caught one, I think the pursuit is the thing with her. I think Fate is the only dog I have ever had who could happily live in the meadow, she knows how to find food, dig warm holes, and stay safe.
Lulu is our serious donkey, our guard donkey. She is always scanning the horizon for danger, which she defines as anything unfamiliar coming near her pasture. She is a working creature, a stoic creature. She has kept coyotes and foxes and weasels and stray dogs and other predators away from the farm for more than a decade. She is always on guard. Thanks, Lulu.
I felt low-hearted today, pulled down by the other hurricane, the deluge of angry and joyless and painful news, and the epidemic of angry and disconnected people in the world.
I decided this morning to claim the light, with my color camera, and then with my monochrome, which I’ve neglected for a couple of moths. I’m like that, I plunge into one passion, then another. We I claim the light, I find myself becoming more radiant, inside and out.
I decline to let them pull me down, to make me as low-hearted as they are. It is not always easy to claim the light, especially during times of crisis or difficulty or stress. But when I find myself complaining, or nursing wounds or slights, or brooding about some rejection or cruelty, I keep my disciplines close to the heart, and I can step over my own shadows and into the light of my truth.
The task is to claim what is bright and beautiful, and there is always something that is bright and beautiful, and that is the choice, To find what is bright and beautiful or to stay in the shadows.
I can claim the light. I found it in this jar filled with flowers, and then again with my monochrome black and white camera out in the meadow with the dogs. I’ll share some of the photos.
It is always a joy to watch Red and Fate work with sheep at the same time. Red is businesslike, focused, professional. Fate is joyous and quite under control, but missing all of those border collie push-the-sheep around attributes.
it works well for us, and I think for her. When Red gets too old to herd the sheep, I’ll just have to think of something else. People love to watch Fate do her thing as they love to see Red do his. I’m lucky to have them both. And I’m grateful I had the good sense not to push Fate beyond where she could or wished to go.
There is probably no sweeter way to start the day than looking at Robin with her new puppy Sandy, they they are quite in love with each other, and there is a sweetness and joy to that which transcends all of the sorrowful bickering and squabbling and cruelty of some humans.
This brings out the best in us, the love in us, and the good feeling. These two will alter each other’s lives and are so lucky to have found one another. Good work, Emma.
