windthread

Fall Cleaning.  we have Fly Season here.   it's usually August.   this year came later and lasted longer because of the Unusual Rain.  Many flies.  Many Many flies.   i even succumed to using fly spray on the windows of the Room because it felt hopeless.  and i got a little crazy.   so after swatting so many flies,  Fall is the time to wash curtains, walls, ceiling.   i didn't do it last year.  but today i finally began.  North wall of Living Room.  Living Room.  funny term.   it's the far West end of this metal box i live in.   washed the curtains in a bucket in the bathtub and hung them out to dry.  washed half the wall.  the rest maybe tomorrow, maybe not.  i have to wait anyway.  the miracle mop i got at the State Fair maybe 4 years ago has been in the bathroom closet.  seems it petrified.  was unusable today…for the ceiling.  so i ordered a new one on line.  it's a squeegie thing, works great on the ceiling.  so…till it comes,  all that can be on Pause.  but the curtains are clean and smell like Sun and Wind.  yes.

 

fixed.  which means ReInforced the gate to the back side of the Albatros in anticipation of letting the Whole of the Herd "back through" soon.  added wood.  tied in with baling wire.  Strong enough.

 

and while i was clearing space for the gate,  i looked.  and i am on my knees stricken by the Wonder of how stuff goes.  This was sand.  like pale,  sand.   This IS naturally composted Earth.  this is how it is meant to go.  Animals eat, animals shit.  the shit mixes in by the action,  in this case, of their hooves.   This area was last belonging to Buckwheat.  Stinky him.  and now, with the manure and urine worked into the excess of his feed….it could NOT be more Excellent.   and i brought the handful to my nose,  and ohhhh,  the scent of good earth.   i have a smile as i write this and my eyes get all teary.  the beauty of this is nothing short of Miracle.

 

and i finally gave up hoping for a woman to respond to the flier at the grocery store and called the handy man guy.  the one that helped me build the shelter in the Way Back.  he is very nice.  he is very ADD.  he is very smart, well read, eccentric in the way that many citizens of New Mexico are, and that probably includes me,  but…his faults are 2.  he talks a mile a minute and he never wants to go home.  So.  ok.  i tell him i have budgeted 2 hours.  that's it.  and ok.  he is going to be the Other Person for the hoof trimming.  ok.  so, he comes with the above.  it is a carpenter's apron with a piece of sheet metal afixed so that if a Goat might kick him,  nothing will be damaged.  ok., well.  and he did fine.  we did two Goats.  that's 8 hooves.  and it went well.  i just let him talk and didn't answer him, kept clipping clipping clipping.  i am VERY HAPPY about this.  only 17 more Goats to go.    he will come every Wednesday until it's done.  he left his protective apron hanging here.  

 

he brought a watermellon as a snack.  we had that.  Nice.  but i had to say…"OK, done now"  and he went home.

 

after that,  the wood guy was supposed to come.  but he called and had had an Unforseen.  so tomorrow.  but i cleared the space for him.  there's some left from last year.  Life is Good.  he's bringing Alligator Juniper.

 

and coming in after all this,  i noticed….a small clump of Blue Grama!  so near the porch steps.  How could i have missed this before?????  but i DID.  and so, seeing it was like a kiss on the forehead from the God Thing.  this is just the BEST.  i call it eyelash grass.  it's the most loving of all Native Grasses….i am grateful.  and there.  right by the porch steps.

 

and all day.  Off and On.  Out of the corner of my eye sometimes,  i watched the Cloth on the Wall.  it is making sound.  the Cloth about migrating birds.  the Cloth about visuals from so far above the surface of the Planet.  this is referred to as a Migratory Corridor.  i love those words.  and again…, last night some owl is out there.  four days now.  it might be staying.