i wanted to say some things.  then, i thought i wouldn't.  but now i am. 

Looking for words.   Telling.

there's something about Telling.  Telling how it is for  "you" which, would be me,  in this case.    So, i had thought, during all the set up for the goats coming,  i had thought about the probable fact that this ecosystem would change.  but i had thought that there would be some kind of disturbance.  that stuff out there would be startled by 12 and now 17 sentient beings that take significant PLACE by being here.   and i knew that it would change me.  change how i experience a day, any day, every day.

and…interestingly enough,  things are, i guess, Evolving.  Changing, Taking In, Just Going ….in such  surprisingly wonder Full ways.  Today,  i set my mind to dealing MYSELF with the swamp cooler.  it's the SouthWest air conditioning.  it's a box attached to your home that has water connected to it through a small tube system from an outdoor faucet.  the water enters and through plastic spigots, sprays down on 3 or 4 walls of the box that hold pads, made of shredded aspen.  then, there is a whirring motor that turns and tries to dry the pads, thereby creating cool air that flows into your home.  i have lived years, off and on without.  just sweated through parts of days.  but daughter Jenny has a different biology than i and becomes, uhhh, flattened with excessive heat.  So, for the days she comes here, i needed to get it working.  i sweated and struggled and got it all apart and went to the hardware store with the non functioning parts and came home with the hopefully functioning parts and sweated some more trying to put it all back together. 

and Why i am telling this here,  is that, really, it's all about ….guess what?…..Mending.  it 's all about everything i've learned about Cloth.  what doesn't work, you cut out, or go over.  all it ever takes is just looking…thinking….doing….just going.  THIS IS AMAZING TO ME.

so, i DID get the cooler going.  what was over 100 degrees in here is now pleasantly….warm.  AND I DID IT MYSELF.  silently, looking, thinking, just going.  one moment to the next.  done.

and then, the goats were calling.  i am trying to cut their feed a little at a time.  they don't need so much, maybe.  but it's a big MAYBE.  and they called me.  and as i went out and pulled Kochia weed to fling over to them,  a little every day to accomodate their transition from alfalfa,  i watered things.  which is a trip in itself and as i watered things,  i saw:

008fix
that the bindweed is blooming Everywhere……because i don't have time to pull it.

010fix
and there is ORANGE mallow again!

012fix
and the grapes are coming!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  oh eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

and as i hauled wheelbarrows full of manure from one raised bed to a different one, because i haven't had time to plant in the Usual Way,  i heard a cicada.  Chicharra, in spanish.  one full month ahead, at least and i followed her sound and there she was on the young locust tree.  i didn't take her picture because also interested in her was one of the Mocking Birds that nest in the Elderberry.

but then, looking down………..oh LO and BEHOLD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

011fix

004fix
like a kiss on the forehead from a God Thing….oh and oh and just oh……………this so very SMALL so very NEW so very perfect Praying Mantis.  and again, like the Walking Stick, if there is one,  there are many. 

I take this as a blessing.  I take this as affirmation of good effort, though, faltering sometimes, though not really knowing anything at all.  I take these things as confirmation of the Law of Just Going.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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40 responses to “looking for words”

  1. grace Forrest Avatar

    this is for you, Jon, (my son) (who reads this blog) as much as
    it is for anything/anyone else…………

    Like

  2. Suzanna Avatar

    These words you found are JUST RIGHT! Especially I like the swamp cooler fixing story…I too have been having some (well, 2) startling successes fixing things, or finding solutions and what a fine feeling it is…perhaps the full moon helps. xoxo, s

    Like

  3. Margo Avatar
    Margo

    Congratulations on your boro job on the swamp cooler. Pretty amazing stuff I’d say!

    Like

  4. Doris Avatar

    I admire your ability to mend. Cloth mending – I´m able to do it by myself but cooler mending …. that makes my head aching by only thinking about it. But I think thats a prejudice by myself. It´s great how you try and succeed ! Your post tells me something about trying and looking grateful at that what surrounds us. I´ll take this with me to start my day. 🙂

    Like

  5. deb Avatar

    It seems like the addition of the goats to your ecosystem is a welcome change…manure is always good, flung far and wide. Is the plan to eventually let the goats roam free of the enclosure?

    Like

  6. jude Avatar

    and i have no new words to offer, just an inner smile.

    Like

  7. Valerianna Avatar

    Smiling… at mending and your exuberance of life-love pouring out.

    Like

  8. Suzanna Avatar

    Oops. Meant to say ‘mending’…

    Like

  9. Mo Crow Avatar

    you are so brave Grace, fixing machines is definitely not for me! It was the beginning of the end when the good man who I lived with out in the bush back in the early 80’s gave me my very own motorcycle manual for xmas so I could rebuild the motor of my Honda 250 trail bike. I did it and it worked but I am very happy to pay the good mechanic to look after the van twice a year. I really don’t like grease or breaking my knuckles on bolts that won’t come undone! My hands enjoy the gardening but I always wear gloves to do anything outside to keep them working well for the drawings & making!

    Like

  10. saskia Avatar

    brave Grace, mending and caring and seeing and sharing
    visiting here is nuturing, thank you

    Like

  11. dee Avatar

    this post could be in a prayer book. thank you!

    Like

  12. Robyn Ayaz Avatar
    Robyn Ayaz

    Grace, you always amaze me with your courage and clarity and grit! You really are a warrior woman, don’t you see? II don’t know many people who would be able to fix anything much these days but you bravely take the cooler apart, get new parts and presto! chango! put it back together again. It IS mending in the very best way and I am full of admiration. My fingers don’t allow me to even check the air in my car tyres any more. And that beautiful little green mantis – aaah!

    Like

  13. Leslie Avatar
    Leslie

    Grace I’m in awe!

    Like

  14. ali Avatar

    you are, as someone said above, a warrior woman–a true homesteader, and you are a wise woman, too. I thank you for taking the time to share this with us, with the world. Your mom is pretty terrific, Jon. And the grapes are gorgeous–they’ll be great if you can get them before the birds–we share at my house : ) Blessings, indeed. A praying mantis is a powerful sign, and a strong symbol.

    Like

  15. Yvonne Avatar
    Yvonne

    There is just nothing like the feeling of having faced the unknown/unfamiliar and found a way through to success – so empowering. Thanks for sharing this pivotal moment and I applaud your feisty determination!

    Like

  16. Jennie Avatar
    Jennie

    your writing is wonderful, lucid and expressive-
    and you truly have insight to share.
    thank you-
    J

    Like

  17. grace Forrest~Maestas Avatar
    grace Forrest~Maestas

    startling successes…yes…i do understand the feeling…
    startling!… as in…who would have guessed!?
    for me, it’s been a life of avoidance, aversion of
    anything like that. although i did very well learn to
    change the oil on vehicles and do minor maintanance….
    and i am an excellent diagnostician about car/truck stuff.
    BUT…the truth is, I DON’T WANT TO. it takes using my
    brain for things i’d rather not.
    but this time, though,…hmmmmmmm, the difference was,
    that i just kinda relaxed my vision, relaxed my mind.
    i had a “situation”. what could it be that would
    mend it…make it work, make it still possible….
    the difference i’m thinking is that i didn’t approach it
    as a PROBLEM. an INCONVENIENCE. but rather as just
    something that needed attention. needed ummmm, Care.
    still thinking. i think the fine feeling for me was that
    i just “went”. i like, Very Much, just going.

    Like

  18. grace Forrest~Maestas Avatar
    grace Forrest~Maestas

    well…pretty plain just life stuff. what is
    different is the lack of frustration

    Like

  19. grace Forrest~Maestas Avatar
    grace Forrest~Maestas

    yes. just going. something needs to happen. maybe i
    can figure out what that is and Do it.

    Like

  20. Deb G Avatar

    I’m not just smiling, let’s call it a grin.

    Like

  21. grace Forrest~Maestas Avatar
    grace Forrest~Maestas

    i really don’t know about all the manure. might be good
    might really Change things. i rake/shovel it up, a lot
    of it and work at building that compost place over in
    the potato patch. but there is more than that. how
    will it change things???? i will find out by watching.
    over Months. roam free is really more than could ever
    happen in this space, but out of the pen, yes. when
    Jenny was here, we let all of the does and babies out
    when we had to squeeze the picnic table into the pen.
    they milled. unsure of exactly What to DO!….and came
    back easy with the offer of some pellets. and then we let the bucks out, to be fair and they ran around in surprise.
    again, going back with the offer of pellets.
    but yes. i would like them to be out in evenings, milling
    about. there is a TON of kochia that they will eat and
    it is very nutritious for them. but also, the beloved
    trees that survived the hard winter…so…it’s Ify.
    but i need to try. that’s next.
    and IF at some point, i can enclose the whole other side
    of this Place, with that privacy fencing, they could
    spend chunks of time there, when i’m home. the loitering
    dogs remain a potential issue. once they get the idea
    of harassing things, they can’t let it go. that would
    become a real problem. so….all in the nearest future.

    Like

  22. grace Forrest~Maestas Avatar
    grace Forrest~Maestas

    i can envision an inner smile. like that.

    Like

  23. grace Forrest~Maestas Avatar
    grace Forrest~Maestas

    those are good words…life-love. thank you for those
    words. yes. i do have life-love.

    Like

  24. grace Forrest~Maestas Avatar
    grace Forrest~Maestas

    well…gloves, no. too much distancing between me and it.
    and when the neighbors were next door, it was easy to
    ask them. he was out of work, or the 15 yo boy “could
    do it”. i got lazy and “soft”. they aren’t here
    anymore. and the goats use that discretionary money in
    the moment. but really, i’m glad. i need to know that
    i CAN. it’s important.

    Like

  25. grace Forrest~Maestas Avatar
    grace Forrest~Maestas

    thanks for saying that…often i don’t know.

    Like

  26. grace Forrest~Maestas Avatar
    grace Forrest~Maestas

    eeeee

    Like

  27. grace Forrest~Maestas Avatar
    grace Forrest~Maestas

    isn’t it the most elegant little being????
    back in the day when i didn’t have a screen door, they
    would come in at night…light on the kitchen table
    which was in a different place then….just wander
    around, looking, visiting curtains, just looking at
    stuff. i miss those days.
    it’s that thing about the Front and the Back.

    Like

  28. grace Forrest~Maestas Avatar
    grace Forrest~Maestas

    well…you shouldn’t be….

    Like

  29. grace Forrest~Maestas Avatar
    grace Forrest~Maestas

    up till now, the grapes always are there…but as i have
    learned, each year is different. again, from that harsh
    winter, there weren’t any last year. i actually thought
    both vines were dead, but not…one remains……
    they’re a beautiful purple.

    Like

  30. grace Forrest~Maestas Avatar
    grace Forrest~Maestas

    yes…facing it. and just going. i REALLY like that….

    Like

  31. grace Forrest~Maestas Avatar
    grace Forrest~Maestas

    oh, Jennie, i don’t know about insight…just what’s
    happening day to day. but thanks for your words….

    Like

  32. grace Forrest~Maestas Avatar
    grace Forrest~Maestas

    ok, then. we are grinning. ok.

    Like

  33. Mo Crow Avatar

    I used to feel the same about not wearing gloves I needed to touch the plants and earth and well everything really with being a very tactile artist until I started working as a gardener professionally & my hands were getting too damaged within the first week! Roderick has always worn gloves as he’s a guitarist and needs his fingernails for plucking the strings so I followed suit and can work with even the most delicate of seedlings these days but they are very good gloves and I wear them out quickly & no I don’t mend them! And I agree it’s good to know you can fix the things that need doing for the independence factor but there are some things like using jackhammers, digging trenches & laying irrigation I leave to the younger stronger folk these days!!!

    Like

  34. yvette Avatar

    you’re natures child…it devellops you devellop
    i see mending as develloping too

    Like

  35. judykeathley@cox.net Avatar
    judykeathley@cox.net

    the law of just going.
    the law of just going.
    the law of just going.
    heaven only knows where we will go…
    what will happen next….
    the cloth. the goats . the tiny insect creature.
    it IS very nurturing to visit here.
    very.

    Like

  36. Michelle in NYC Avatar

    I don’t know how it happened…but I’ve been missing all your recent posts LITERALLY…so I looked back to Windthread (the old one) and realized the New one was not on my list of blogs I follow! I don’t know how that happened!@? BUT I quickly added Windthread.typepad.com to my list and up popped weeks of wonderful wonder FULL posts! So I’ve got a weekend full of looking and reading and wondering to catch up with now, and I’m soooooo HAPPY!

    Like

  37. grace Forrest~Maestas Avatar
    grace Forrest~Maestas

    holy moly…stuff just happens. i wish i could just close off
    that Blogspot one, but i guess you can’t. it just floats there
    forever, taking up some little electronic file in the sky.

    Like

  38. velma Avatar

    i like your law of just going.

    Like

  39. grace Forrest~Maestas Avatar
    grace Forrest~Maestas

    it’s a cloth law.
    Jude taught me.

    Like

  40. Jacky Avatar
    Jacky

    I love reading about your life Grace, about your approach to life and living things. Your goats, your garden, your cloth, your family, the area (and ecosytem) you live in….
    Always thinking and opening our minds along the way.
    I love your goats (I told my husband a while ago I would love some goats…and a donkey). I’ve always loved those two animals…dont know why.
    Jacky xox

    Like

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