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Just this

i heard this morning of the death of a much loved buck goat. A herd sire. It was unexpected and it was sudden.  From a miscalculation on his part.   and  it has held me all day.  It has held me in the great sorrow of his untimely death but it also has held me as Teaching.   It helps me know that living with a herd requires a strong and open Heart.  The willingness to well,  live As the herd lives.  One of Them.

His name is Hansel.  And in his honor and in the honor of those who love him,  i tied a cloth to the flag stick of the Raft.   

 

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18 responses to “Just this”

  1. Michelle in NYC Avatar
    Michelle in NYC

    My heart is waving to yours.
    (Trip delayed a day but I join my New England friends soon. Big Love. I’ll miss reading you daily and may try to sneak in from their laptop if it’s working. If not–July)

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  2. Cynthia Avatar
    Cynthia

    oh grace…thank you..this is such a kindness and such an honor..acknowledgement is so much..to name a loss does not make it go away..but there is balm in the action and in the words themselves and that means so very much..so many thank yous cynthia

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  3. Cynthia Avatar
    Cynthia

    …and i love the blowing angle of the cloth..sailing on and anchored all at once..

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  4. Marti Avatar
    Marti

    Sail on Hansel, in the midst of sadness, miles away, the sun still shines, the sky is blue and on a raft, a memorial to a fine goat. The bond of goat keepers, like a family, holding through the joyful times and the sweet sorrowful times extending to those of us without goats. Coming to know and care for grace’s goats means that I have come to appreciate and love the family of goats so a loss in any herd is deeply felt. To Cynthia, my condolences and know that on my daily blessing altar, my pine scented candle is lit and near it, some lavender to gently scent the air in memory of Hansel.

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  5. Cynthia Avatar
    Cynthia

    ..thank you..because i remember when there were just two..and now there are 16 of them i and never knew what joy and delight they could bring…and how very intensely unique they are..i will share this with meadow, the true and amazing keeper of the goats and it will be…you know i was going to write appreciated..but what i had written when i actually looked down was magnified..and that is how i will truly leave it because that is how it feels..
    like ripples in a pond …grace’s raft .. pine and lavender..the balm of words from so far away..what a lovely gift to take to meadow..cloth in the wind for an oberhasli goat named hansel

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  6. Mo Crow Avatar
    Mo Crow

    fly free

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  7. Karen Avatar
    Karen

    Journey on, majestic Hansel!! A candle here in Florida burns for you to light the way , and the smudge smoke to clear the path. And to Cynthia, may you be comforted. Grace, so loving of you to rally for this beautiful being and his journey.

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  8. Martine Avatar
    Martine

    a prayer flag for Hansel to show him the way to the happy hunting grounds where he’ll meet with his Gretl………..

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  9. grace Avatar
    grace

    a buck Goat’s dream, to meet forever with their Gretl

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  10. grace Avatar
    grace

    you go, you return it’s always good for you…i look forward
    to the story of it when you return

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  11. grace Avatar
    grace

    This has touched me and INFORMED me so so deeply…it is
    open and raw. i put this Hansel sail as much for the
    heart of this herd here as for him and his herd there.
    Somehow in a very fierce way, there is One Herd of Goats,
    seperated by geography, but all One. The way we talk
    of ourselves wanting to be…but They just ARE.

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  12. grace Avatar
    grace

    i took over 20 and had to choose

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  13. grace Avatar
    grace

    it is so fitting…that the candle be on your altar

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  14. grace Avatar
    grace

    by these things, Meadow is becoming a Woman of this Earth.
    and the word
    appreciate
    i love this word…it means to me to truly know and feel
    all the nuance, to breathe in, all of it and hold it close,
    let it be absorbed

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  15. grace Avatar
    grace

    the physical substance of Goats is dense and so of the
    earth, but their spirits are thin and delicate and shine
    so, yes, fly free

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  16. grace Avatar
    grace

    o Karen…yes…a candle there in the penninsula between
    two oceans, yes. and you smudged. i nod.

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  17. Cynthia Avatar
    Cynthia

    hello..i came down from breezy meadows..home to these goats…it is for those who do not know a farm on the top of a mountain in vermont..it is off grid and full of permaculture practices and rice paddies and usually much joy..
    so this was a hard week of a hard spring..but i wanted to share the past hour here and say thank you for all the kindness that has come from graces’s generosity and sharing of windthread..it has been a truly beautiful last day of spring,,and i have been walking in woods of birch and maple with meadow and spending time with the goats..it was so calm ..we walked to where the terraced rice paddies shimmered below ..the rice stalks making patterns on the water..the new herd leader obi wan is gracious and tolerant of teen aged and small new goats ..he is a very patient and handsome goat..hansel.s brother..
    the goats here move weekly from meadow to hill to wherever in a rhythmic pattern in turn with pigs and cows and chickens and josh and meadow are building a new milking station it is in a lovely long lane beneath a meadow full of growing berry bushes and hazelnut trees and it will be both well done and very useful when the weather is inclement …and we walked and talked and laughed at the silliness of the kids, the continuing intensities of dominance among the two newly mingled herds and the grace and patience of obi wan..and by the end of the afternoon it was a much more peaceful place and we were laughing a lot..i had taken up the texts from mart and grace and she was so very touched and surprised and truly the sorrow was lightened…
    and for this i thank you very much,,because as sad as i am about the death of a goat..the sadness in this young person is ..i know ..a part of what is..but it is hard to watch…and you been so kind,.and that matters

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  18. grace Avatar
    grace

    so, Cynthia, Breezy Meadows will over time become Our Home as well.
    We will come to know the doings there, of a young couple who are
    giving their lives to what they Believe.
    We will become Family to this place.
    and how it is with Goats that they are the absolute and total
    MASTERS of Just Going. How EVERYThING matters so totally in the
    moment of the present and they will Give Everything in the moment of the present but when the moment moves on to the next moment, they Give Everything to that. Such Wondrous TEACHERS they are…i don’t
    even know it all yet, at all. It’s ongoing and just GRAND
    and i THANK YOU BEYOND THANK YOU for bringing it here…..
    just BIG FAT JUICY LOVE

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