So I discovered today that taking refuge beneath the sunflowers can be extremely therapeutic after a long day.
No doubt bursting with enthusiasm, the carpenters that we hired to aid us in replacing a rotten sill on the house began hammering at 7:30 this morning. In the course of replacing the sill, a massive beam just on top of the stone kneewall that bears most of the weight of the house, we found several other crossbeams in the basement ceiling that were also in bad shape. Currently that corner of the house is sitting on five iron jacks, and we walk lightly.
Following this revelation, we drove down to Buxton to take possession of a new horse, an Appaloosa gelding that my mother had come across in her travels through Uncle Henry's. There must be something tantalizing about the idea of a free lease, because this animal, who had not at first met with approval, suddenly reversed his position and became a part of the herd growing in the back yard. His owner, unfortunately, had spoiled him quite badly, with odd theories of breathing and attuning and the avoidance of any sort of force. This is all very well for establishing a trust relationship between you and your horse, but Zen Buddhist horsemanship presents problems when said horse refuses to enter the trailer. In the presence of this sensitive woman one does not feel comfortable in simply popping a good one across his rear, which would have been most effective, and so we played chicken for the better part of two hours. Walking in, backing out, leaping in, rearing out, standing with just the heels of his hind feet on the door so it was impossible to close. Finally we were able to lift the door enough to hold it against his attempted retreat, and we drove a stamping, head-tossing creature forty-five minutes home. Whereupon he almost immediately got loose and decided to go adventuring up River Road, a rather animal-unfriendly area populated by speeding rural drivers.
Needless to say, my first impression of "Chance" was not a favorable one. His brattiness is almost human. So, once retrieval had been implemented, I retreated to my sunflowers, which appear to have grown about five feet in my week's absence. After all the rain we've had lately, the ground was soft and smelled wonderfully of earth and green things growing. I sat in dappled sunlight, diffused through a screen of stalks and great flat leaves, and watched the flowerheads sway in the wind, miniature suns lifting their faces towards their parent in the sky.
No doubt bursting with enthusiasm, the carpenters that we hired to aid us in replacing a rotten sill on the house began hammering at 7:30 this morning. In the course of replacing the sill, a massive beam just on top of the stone kneewall that bears most of the weight of the house, we found several other crossbeams in the basement ceiling that were also in bad shape. Currently that corner of the house is sitting on five iron jacks, and we walk lightly.
Following this revelation, we drove down to Buxton to take possession of a new horse, an Appaloosa gelding that my mother had come across in her travels through Uncle Henry's. There must be something tantalizing about the idea of a free lease, because this animal, who had not at first met with approval, suddenly reversed his position and became a part of the herd growing in the back yard. His owner, unfortunately, had spoiled him quite badly, with odd theories of breathing and attuning and the avoidance of any sort of force. This is all very well for establishing a trust relationship between you and your horse, but Zen Buddhist horsemanship presents problems when said horse refuses to enter the trailer. In the presence of this sensitive woman one does not feel comfortable in simply popping a good one across his rear, which would have been most effective, and so we played chicken for the better part of two hours. Walking in, backing out, leaping in, rearing out, standing with just the heels of his hind feet on the door so it was impossible to close. Finally we were able to lift the door enough to hold it against his attempted retreat, and we drove a stamping, head-tossing creature forty-five minutes home. Whereupon he almost immediately got loose and decided to go adventuring up River Road, a rather animal-unfriendly area populated by speeding rural drivers.
Needless to say, my first impression of "Chance" was not a favorable one. His brattiness is almost human. So, once retrieval had been implemented, I retreated to my sunflowers, which appear to have grown about five feet in my week's absence. After all the rain we've had lately, the ground was soft and smelled wonderfully of earth and green things growing. I sat in dappled sunlight, diffused through a screen of stalks and great flat leaves, and watched the flowerheads sway in the wind, miniature suns lifting their faces towards their parent in the sky.
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