Ian McRae came last night (below) to share the sheep. (Yes, the sheep still have enough wool to stay warm.) It took eight hours, and the sheep, as always, are butting each other because they no longer know each other. It will be shortened out by the end of the day. I had a neat bird watch this morning.
It was nice to watch Maria and our shearer, Ian McLean, work together to shear our sheep and collect wool for selling as yarn (and other things.) When Ian first came to shear, he was nervous, and so was she as she tried to collect her future yarn before it got dirty.
Both of them have figured out how to do it and work together.
It isn’t easy. Ian has also become a part of our family, we try to get together for dinner at least once a week and Ian and I love to sit by the fire and trade “good bullshit,” as he put it. Bullshit is the right word. I am a champion bullshitter with the right person and Ian and I have a blast. I couldn’t help last night, so I came inside to work and brought water now and then.
Sharing is one of our favorite and timeless rituals on the farm. So is making the wool into yarn. It’s one of the reasons we are here.
Shearers haven’t changed much in recent years. Ian sings Irish songs to the sheep and talks to them to calm them. They have to be physically strong and agile. They are always under charge, and we always give them more.
Ian and Maria did a great job. It sure helps to be strong.
More than anything, Zip loves to have his neck and upper chest scratched. He goes into bliss and usually falls asleep in my lap. Yesterday, when I was done taking pictures, I scratched him, and he fell asleep in my hands. He’s incredibly active and misses nothing but quiets down in bliss. I think he needs it.
My Bliss. I have been meditating every morning for years and take it very seriously. These past few months have tested my ability to clear my head of disturbing news. I needed some help. I asked Maria about one of her holding pillows, which made a significant difference.
There is a difference, although I can’t explain why. Holding it calms me and clears my head. I don’t meditate without it. Meditation can be simple or complex. It has helped me focus my mind and clear the junk out of my head. It helped me understand who I was and who I wanted to be. I never thought of holding something beautiful and comforting. Maria took this photo of me holding the pillow in meditation.
Zip and I have something in common – neither can relax in silence.
Lilies, by Mary Oliver
“I have been thinking
about living
like the lilies
that blow in the fields.”
“They rise and fall in the wedge of the wind,
and have no shelter from the tongues of the cattle…”
( Above, my assistant, hard at work)
“and have no closets or cupboards,
and have no legs.
Still, I would like to be
as wonderful…
as that old idea
But if I were a lily
I think I would wait all-day
for the green face...
“…of the hummingbird to touch me.
What I mean is, could I forget myself?
even in those feather fields.
When van Gogh
preached to the poor
of course he wanted to save someone —
“…most of all himself.
He wasn’t a lily,
and wandering through the bright fields
only gave him more ideas...”
“…it would take his life to solve.
I think I will always be lonely
in this world, where the cattle
graze like a black and white river –
“…where the ravishing lilies
melt, without protest, on their tongues –
where the hummingbird, whenever there is a fuss,
just rises and floats away.”
Lilies, by Mary Oliver
“Let the beauty of what you love be what you do…” — Rumi
I didn’t want to wait for a pantry blog post; you ought to get a taste of what I saw when I visited the pantry today. I couldn’t wait to show you. Pictures can say a million words; the one above says it all. Each box was purchased and sent by a stranger with a big heart and the ability to stand in the shoes of others.
The baked goods were nothing less than a miracle to the pantry volunteers, Sarah, me, and the families who come to the food pantry for help.
And they are not far from the generosity that brought them to their shelves; most of what you see came from you. You have moved above and beyond. We are not a religious organization, but consciously or not, we are following the Call of Jesus Christ, who changed the world with kindness and sympathy.
The task is to help those who have nowhere else to go.
I believe you are doing the same thing he wished you to do, in conflict-torn America. You are keeping good alive and showing us what it means.
One reason I take photos so faithfully is so that you can see the remarkable work you are doing. I don’t want to slobber, but it is a rare and wonderful, especially now. No one imagined that you would be so empathetic, generous, and faithful.
You have not once failed to head the call.
Something profound inside of you—a soul, I think—understands the power of doing good, and does it whenever you can.
Last week, the pantry had no baked goods, a staple of their customers’ food. Today, three shelves are filled with baked goods, one after the other. You did it. The shelves in the back room are also full. So that you know, you just needed to be asked to help. You are good.
I didn’t have a wide enough lens to capture the baking goods you put on the shelves. Please rest knowing this will last a few weeks; it’s wild at the beleaguered food pantry. It’s an honor for me to work with them, and an honor for them to work with you. The photos here are just a fraction of what you have done, but the rapid-fire response to the Baking crisis seemed almost Biblical.
Can you see what you have done?
Here are some photos of what you did last week and the week or two before. You come running every time you are asked. It’s one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen, just like our country needs now. Thanks for keeping love and empathy alive and showing us our own heart scan.
I walked through the shelves and took photos of about one quarter of what you sent here. I don’t have room for them all.
Plenty of pear slices on the shelves. Remember?
Sarah and her dedicated volunteers have been moving and stacking baked goods for days. More are coming.
The back room is the only space the pantry has for storing things. These shelves are filling up, also. The volunteers work hard, day and night, every day of the week.
Corn is one of the healthier canned vegetables and the most popular. They are out frequently; you get more every time Sarah asks.
If I can’t get over you, I will never get over the hard work of Sarah and the pantry volunteers. They are in my heart for good.
Betty Crocker was never real, but she does live on. It’s been raining muffin mix at the pantry.
Pears. Remember? Several times.
Thanks to you, the pantry now has enough diapers to last a few days. These shelves will be empty by Saturday.
There’s a lot more, but this is all I had room for today. I hope you sense the enormous gratitude everyone has for you on this end of things. There are days when they couldn’t have made it without you. Your loyalty to good and kindness is a model for the world.
