This image with the quote, the donkey painting, and the shadow from the afternoon sun shining through my west window and reflecting onto the east wall of my kitchen really spoke to me.

Donkeys are at the top of my list as one of my favorite animals. It’s their sweetness and their need for love and affection that draws me to them, but it’s also their determination in taking a stand when they don’t wish to do something that I appreciate too.

There is also something so grounding about watching them take the same path they’ve worn down in a field to get to where they need to go. I always enjoy when Maria Wulf of Bedlam Farm shares videos of the farm and the animals and it’s especially the donkeys that I find myself mesmerized by when they walk from one section of the farm to another, along the same worn path.

I guess for me it’s about routine and familiarity that feels stable and calming when I observe the donkeys do this – and it’s rather like a meditation to just sit and observe this.

The “Let’s Stay Home” quote is one I saw in a magazine last year and then asked my sister to make me this sign. For me, staying home more during the pandemic wasn’t that big of a deal as I’m home a lot, to begin with. Though I did have my moments and sometimes still do as we continue to adapt and adjust. But being home and making our space a cozy nest has always been a high value of mine.

But I know this wasn’t the case for some and that’s when the shadow on this image came into play that had me contemplating how this all came together. For some, the shelter in place was a real challenge and it may have meant having to confront some shadow aspects that no doubt felt uncomfortable.

But I see the image of the shadow on the wall speaking to the fact that adjusting to something new or different takes time – see the reflection from the window on the wall and how it is sectioned off? I see this as adapting and adjusting is about just doing what we can, as we can, moment by moment and day by day (taking it one section at a time). And the shadow images of what sits on my window ledge are like new highlights that pop up along the way of things we discover about ourselves that bring a spark of joy or insight we’d not considered before as we move through this new way of being.

So as much as I love my home and being home often, I too have had to take certain aspects of all that has unfolded during this pandemic that has felt uncomfortable and process them as best as I can – one section at a time – one moment at a time. And there have been certain places within myself that I’ve felt a new shift, an accepting, a deeper calming, and expanded gratitude for the simple things. Now that’s a path I wish to walk until it’s well worn – just like the donkeys walk their path.

xo,

Barbara

I’ve been waiting patiently. Well, okay, sometimes not so patiently (!) to see if a wren has taken up residence in one or two of the houses John built for them earlier this spring. The houses are attached to the east side of my writing cottage.

I first spotted this wren in the top photo in the hydrangea tree earlier in the week, but yet, I still hadn’t seen one saw go in or out of either house. But today it happened!

Once I realized they were utilizing the house it was fun watching as they gathered twigs and whatever else they could find to build the nest. And they do it together though they each have their special tasks is what I learned. The male constructs the nest and then the female furnishes it with feathers, moss, or leaves – whatever she can find for her sweet bum to have a soft place to rest and get ready to lay her eggs which she does one egg a day until she has laid five or six. 

It was such a little thing I thought that was bringing me so much joy this morning. And then I thought about how times like these going through this pandemic and how the little things just continue to get bigger and how those seemingly little things continue to bring more and more bursts of love to my heart.

I also feel like John and I are that male and female wren. He the carpenter and I the one who thoroughly enjoys feathering our nest.

Wrens are also known to be quite resourceful and adaptable and I reflected on how we incurred a big unexpected expense for John’s business this week that was hard to swallow. But we two wrens have been through worse as we gathered together on the deck last night talking it over and how we will move forward. We will be okay because as we’ve learned over the years from hard knocks, that we too can be resourceful and adaptable when we need to.

And it’s these little moments watching the wrens that keep us grounded and I say a big thank you to them for their teaching and for bringing us these bursts of joy….because it is truly what matters.

xo,

Barbara