view from the hill

I sit here in my "home office" so to speak, looking out on a cold windy January day with some leftover snow. Don't let anybody tell you that the big blackbird kill over in AR got most of 'em.  Not by a long shot.....our fields are covered with them!  There is a brave cardinal here and there, a bright red piece of magic against the snowy background. Karma visited and I have enjoyed two scheduled days off to celebrate the inside warmth with my BG and all the critters.  Yes, there are four of them again.  One cat and three dogs, go figure.  Lily has her bluff in on all of them but Sam and Oscar still try to mess with her on occasion.  Sharp claws guys!!

I have spent years in this house trying to find a spot to discover my inner organized child, and the living room is perfect now that I've gone through tons of shit a lot of our family's trashy treasures.  I keep something that catches my eye or reminds me of Mom because I never want to forget that part of our life in the red log cabin.  As children, we never failed to get a good country meal every  night, even though she worked long hours and so did Daddy.  As much as we despised it then, we were forced to sit together with moody siblings and play nice.  Agriculture was a huge part of our lives so we were all active doing things at the annual county fair.  My brothers and I were landlords of a strawberry patch one year at 25 cents a quart and made a killing......enough for me to put down on a car.  That took gas that cost 35 cents a gallon.  And then I walked five miles in the snow :)
The primo view on this farm is from the hill behind the 1920's dairy barn with silos.  From that point, most of the acreage is visible sleeping quietly under the snow right now.  But not for long, ya'll.  The first flowers....snowdrops....usually pop up in late January.  After that will be the quince and the buttercups.  Hey, is that faith or what?  Growing up as a farmer's daughter has given me this sort of keen awareness and appreciation for all seasons.......except that part of summer where you sweat like a hog for two months.  That I could live without.  Maybe it's just a reminder to us from Big Ernie about how how it is in hades.  Who knows!
I am playing more and exploring what makes me happy which is long overdue.  A lot of things have contributed to that, but mostly it's just laughing more and getting pissed off less.  It doesn't change a thing.  Another thing I learned from the steps?  It feels damn good to let something go and find peace with it.  

Here's to us and all ya'll and their mamas'n'them.  Bless our hearts!!!!