My
girlfriend Cathy got this from her friend, Leslie ... who got it from a
woman who posts on this board that she belongs to. It's a little quaint
and a little long but beautiful in it's simplicity and has a touching
message. So I hope you enjoy it as much as everyone else has ...
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Contemplations on Winter, Life and the Approaching Holiday Season
We
are at 7,000 or so feet above sea level. Our home is 'off grid' drawing
power from a generator and batteries, and our phone and Internet are
via Satellite. We live, for the most part, a bit simpler than many,
having chosen to give up many electrical gadgets and other taken for
granted amenities that most folks seem to collect. No micro-wave, no
stereo, no slow cookers, waffle irons, electric frying pans, etc.
Being
the parent of a trans-racial family, and children with many challenges
is, for me, just the best adventure. And one of the ways I enjoy things
most if finding as many 'bubbles of fun' as possible in the trials and
successes of my lil darlings.
A day here most often starts as
Grandfather Sun is rising over the mountains in the east, often with
spectacular colors reflected across the open sky. When Mama was young,
she hated getting up so early, but her ever so wise Grandmother taught
her that 'one day she would understand the importance of things' such
as early rising. Mama notices that she is now the age her Grandmother
was when she was growing up, and finds that in this, as most things,
Grandmother was correct. Such beauty surrounds us that it seems a shame
to miss watching Grandfather Sun begin his daily journey, often with
dozens of variations in cloud patterns, light, colors and cloud
movement. Some days the colors are like velvet, so close it feels like
one can touch them. Other times the rainbow of yellows, reds, purples
and gray's reach out to cover the sky and the clouds, reflecting
shadows, suggesting all manner of animals on the ground and in the sky.
As the Light takes over from the darkness, valleys and peaks appear and
disappear, moving like a living hand over the lands below.
Most
mornings we have a hot breakfast, eggs from our own chickens, omelet's,
pancakes of many varieties, oatmeal with raisins and cinnamon or dried
fruit or small chunks of apples, or cream of wheat or seven grain
cereals, often with locally grown honey to add zest. (Also helps
greatly with sinus issues and allergies, a nice bonus).
Next
Mama gets her lil darlings get up in twos and threes, so avoid conflict
and keep the chaos as low as possible. It also gives smaller group time
with Mama. Most mornings are full of chatter over the tops of the rooms
upstairs. All the bedrooms on the third floor except the master suite
have no ceilings. The walls go up eight feet and then are open to the
ceiling above. The ceiling is 12 inches thick, with Styrofoam for super
insulation in our mountain environment where we often get winds of 40,
60 and sometimes faster, gusting and blowing and howling. Since her
children will do the 'Walton thing', taking to each other, Mama and
Daddy thought making it easier would be better. The acoustics are so
well designed that if Mama sits in front of the masonry fireplace she
can hear each and every word they are saying, and if needs be,
intervene quickly.
After eating we have several hours of
homeschool, all at various levels. Just now Mama has two actual
preschoolers, one son working at preschool level due to developmental
delays, one daughter with extensive cognitive delays still working at
preschool level, three boys and one girl working on Grade 1 and Grade 2
(one of whom is five years old and smart as a whip), one doing Grade
five work, two girls doing an eclectic style of grade five and grade
six, and one very bright daughter at grade eight. So it can be a bit
hectic.When needs be and weather permits, outside activities including
animal husbandry and egg gathering, are done in intervals and small
groups through out the day. Eggs are gathered with great delight and a
chorus of we got 'insert current number eggs here' today, Mama!' is
heard as they return from the barn clutching a bucket of eggs.
It's
winter now, even tho the calendar doesn't agree. At this elevation we
get a lot more snow than most places in, and lots of sudden weather
changes too. Yesterday, we got over 8 inches of snow so Kasey, Emilie
and Isaiah (despite stuffy noses and watery eyes) just HAD to go try
sledding for the first time this year.
Brother Wind was howling
and blowing, likely 45/50 mph. These three are among Mama's more gifted
children, and she's always looking for teaching moments, so she figured
they are all responsible enough to learn the lesson so sent them out.
About
fifteen minutes later, Mama's keen hearing, sharpened by some thirty
odd years of child rearing, notices this loud shouting on the deck, and
stomping too. Since sounds echo strangely up here, it's not always
possible to figure out where an outside noise is originating, so Mama
sets out to search. Upon searching all sides, on the last (of course)
of the four sides she's searching, she finds five year old Isaiah, all
bundled up in his best imitation of a mummy, standing with his fist
raised and shouting: "BAD BROTHER WIND". Mama is impressed by his lung
capacity.
Brother Wind was blowing so hard that Isaiah was stuck
at the far edge of the deck and couldn't make his way to the door to
come inside! After laughing greatly, Mama rescued him. He was NOT
happy. He continued to shake his fist, stomp and jump as we made our
way into the house. And it wasn't easy for me either given the high
gusts of the winds. Mama really ought to put on a coat for such
adventures, she thinks to herself.
Every inch of his beautiful
brown face was covered in snow, his coat and pants were matted, and
snow filled his much loved and much worn Spiderman boots. The first
thing he did after removing his outside clothes, after scattering a lot
of snow on the tile floor, was to stick his hands inside my clothes on
Mama's back, shouting 'COLD HANDS, COLD HANDS!' with great delight. One
of the rituals we have almost daily in winter. Mama laughed and
pretended to be frightened of the cold, and he did it again. Mama, who
grew up in Canada, where there is far TOO much of cold AND snow,
doesn't like cold. It's become quite a family joke which all enjoy,
especially when Mama says "SHHHHHH! That's a secret!" This causes more
howls of laughter from anyone in hearing distance.
Since he was
safely inside Mama thought it best to check on his two remaining
sisters outside. She looked out to check on his sisters. They were
trying very hard to sled down the driveway, which is pretty steep.
Brother Wind was challenging them, and the sled kept blowing away up in
the air before they could get on it to ride. They would fight and grab
it back, both girls working in concert, and then jump quickly on and
push off. They too were covered in snow from head to toe. While Kasey
is Chinese American, and Emily Mayan Hispanic, they look enough alike
to often be taken for biological sisters and are firmly bonded to each
other.
Now one of the things the Anderson Clan has found
essential to mountain living, is having a good sized dog to scare off
predators. Before we got our current BIG dog, Mama had to chase a
cougar out of our barn, beating it with a broom handle. Mrs. Cougar,
very pregnant, was bent in eating Serenity, one of our oldest goats.
Now in retrospect, Mama realizes this wasn't smart, but it seemed like
the only choice at that particular moment. No cougar was going to her
HER goat, not a chance!
We had a earlier version of BIG dog,
named Angel, that didn't work out, as she tried to make a meal of our
little English Spaniel, Meg. After finding a home with no other dogs or
children, we began searching and praying for another. Then on
FreeCycle, we found our second Angel. (which really was her name too).
She is part greyhound, part black lab, and the best family dog one
could ask for. She is long and lean, brown with blond brindle markings
over her body. Angel runs like the wind! She is kind and gentle with
family, but protective of us with strangers, and not afraid to bark
loudly at strangers and predators. And she's kind and gentle with Meg
too.
Mama watches through the window, with thousands of
snowflakes swirling and twirling through the air, as Angel dragged in a
dead animal, that upon further inspection revealed itself to be a
coyote. She dropped it, proud as punch with her 'treasure,' right in
front of the sled's path. This didn't please the girls much, but then
they got excited about what animal it was, where it came from and
'could we keep it, PLEASE'? Guess they've learned from Mama, as Daddy
says Mama is the biggest softie in the world.
Since it was very
dead, keeping it wouldn't work. Had it been not quite so dead, Mama
would not have kept it anyway. Wild things belong in the wild, in
Mama's opinion. Also a lesson learned from her Grandmother many years
ago and validated by watching others who disobeyed that basic
understanding of the Ways of Nature.
Mama is not sure Angel
killed it, or if she found it and drug it home. It didn't look in good
condition and it's possible one of the many cougars got it first, but
Angel was happy. After close examination, Mama had the girls drag it
back into the bushes, but of course, Angel has since drug it back and
it sits in the back yard where she's using it as a chew toy. Angel has
made short work of the weasel population that is now much less numerous
than it was a year ago, much to the chickens delight.
In the
afternoon Mama declared a mini-holiday. We watched movies and ate some
cake one of the girls had prepared. We watched through our windows as
darkness dropped so swiftly over the mountains that is was light one
moment and dark the next. Snow continued to pile up, and the next
morning, today, there was over a foot of snow in most places. It seemed
like we were the only family in the world, or on a virgin planet with
no one for light years around.
Supper was scrambled eggs with
home made bread and applesauce for desert. Small pleasures and small
treasures, but happy memories that Mama hopes will see her children
through their lives and help them in their healing.
Thanksgiving
is just past, and I am reminded of how many blessings I have in my
life. A warm home, food in the pantry, children who laugh and tell me
they love me a dozen times each per day. The beauty that surrounds us
here still takes my breath away often through out the day.
So
much of our life is perception based. We can choose to see the small
successes, and celebrate them, be thankful for life and breath and
warmth and food. We can choose to find those bubbles of fun, despite
having a fever or a cold or a sore throat or a house full of children
with the same. We can choose to enjoy each precious day as a sacred
Gift, given from whom ever we see as our Higher Power. We can choose to
stop and give thanks and appreciation to those we Walk this Road in the
Physical World with, or we can choose to grumble and complain and rush
through life.
Too many folks these days seem to be driven by
their lives, rather than living and enjoying their lives. Joy is where
ever we CHOOSE to seek it.
My invitation to you, as you enter
the busyness of the holiday season, is to choose to make a difference.
Reach out to another, help someone less fortunate. Rejoice in the
season no matter your philosophy, spiritual belief system, state and
stage of life! Give of yourself and serve another.
So many in
this world have so little, and we have so much. So many families are
homeless, or have inadequate food, or shelter or warmth. While we can't
change the state of the world, we can change our own little corner of
it. We can choose to reach out, to give, to serve. To share the
abundance of what we have.
The Season, for me, isn't about
accumulating more STUFF. It's about finding those bubbles of happiness,
of making my corner of the world a bit better, enriching the lives of
those less fortunate, or maybe, reaching out through this computer to
nudge those of you reading it, to do the same. And celebrating life!
One never knows what our lives will bring us, what the next day or the
future might hold. Honoring each day, each person we love and care
about, each breath we have, makes ALL the difference.
Remembering
the joy on my son's face as he stuck his cold hands on my back, and the
delight of his laughter as I giggled and reacted will be a highlight of
my life. Despite his physical challenges, and daily struggles, life for
him is good. He is full of joy and love. And that is the legacy I want
to share with my family, those I know, and those I know only through
cyberspace.
Make happy memories folks. You are the only one who can for you.
Walk Strong
And if you can't? Walk AS IF you are.
Deedee