When the Geese Speak

Posted by Barbara Techel
Photo Credit: Gaimard

For over four months now I’ve had a new walking route. One I’ve thoroughly been enjoying.

For over thirty years we had an open field behind our home. Now there are seven new homes with more on the way as the field was developed into lots. With that, it brought a lovely and quiet winding road. Instead of walking the sidewalk that runs alongside the noisy highway for part of my walk each morning, I now enjoy a more serene walk on this newly paved road.

The road takes me past the backside of a pond that runs alongside the back of a senior assisted living facility. This pond has been, and continues to be, the home of many geese and the families they raise. It has also seen a few duck families too. It is also the place I released a small lost chick that was wondering our yard one summer hoping that one of the families would take it in as their own which I understand they often do.

There had been talk about draining the pond because the construction company didn’t want to care for the uptake of it. I remember when I heard that my heart went out to the seniors living at the facility and how no doubt the sight of geese and baby goslings have brought them much joy. Fortunately, it was decided not to drain the pond.

Today as I was winding my way back home along this road I saw two geese laying on the ground on one of the lots. No home is there yet, so they had it all to themselves. Just the day before I watched as four geese in another area of the subdivision raised quite the ruckus when a neighborhood dog, Lucy Lou was walking by. Lucy Lou, a cattle dog, now eleven years old, walks much slower these days, slowing down with age. But the geese didn’t know that and were raising quite the ruckus with their loud honking. It made me chuckle to myself.

As I walked by the two geese that had taken up residence where there will soon be a home I smiled. I thought to myself how they just made themselves at home. Then as clear as day in my mind I heard, “We were here first.”

I was startled at first but then realized this as truth. How soon I’d forgotten there was a field behind our home all those years that attracted many geese, as well as, Sandhill Cranes. Now they were being displaced because of the new homes being built.

My eyes filled with tears as I continued my walk. At times I can feel overwhelmed by situations like these because I wonder what it is I can do. How can we live in harmony together, I wonder? I know many consider geese a nuisance and don’t like having to watch where they walk because, well, just like all animals, and people… they poop!

How often geese are killed because we don’t want to deal with their natural behaviors. As I continued to walk I decided I’d find a non-profit organization that is working to help educate about geese and help their cause and make a donation to support those efforts. And that is just what I did.

I share this not as a ‘pat on the back’ thing, but as a way in which when we feel helpless like I did today, to find a way in which we can do something. We just never know how that small gesture can have a positive impact.

XO

Barb

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The Snow Drop Shrub and the Crow

Posted by Barbara Techel

I was drawn to the west window of my Joyful Pause Cottage when I entered it mid-morning. 

Waking at 6 a.m. I looked out my bedroom window to see about an inch of snow on the ground! I admit, for a moment, I was disgruntled. 

By the time I got out to my cottage the snow was already melting, though large, fluffy flakes are falling again as I write this.

But looking out the window I was drawn to the snow caps on the shrub in my perennial garden. It was so pretty and I dubbed it the Snow Drop Shrub.

I noted the metal crow looking at the tree as if seeing the same beauty I was seeing too. Crows are often related to the mysteries of life, transformation, and change.

While the calendar may say it’s Spring, Mother Nature and Crow were reminding me that I can either stay in the shadow of what should be or open to the beauty of what is right outside my window.

And as I end writing this post the sun is shining – all that transformation in just a matter of minutes! Another lesson that we can choose to let go of the struggle and trust that all is in perfect timing.

XO

Barb

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Nurturing Inside and Out. My Soon to Be Raised Bed Garden.

Posted by Barbara Techel

Kind words are the gardens, kind words are the roots, kind words are the flowers, kind deeds are the fruits, take care of your garden and keep out the weeds, Fill it with sunshine, kind words, and kind deeds. ~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Nurturing seems to be a topic on my mind lately. From my post on Sunday sharing about my nurturing Gidget’s memorial marker where she lays resting outside Joyful Pause Cottage to now thinking about it in terms of gardening.

I also just finished recording an excerpt from each chapter of my memoir, I’m Fine Just the Way I Am, and I’ll be releasing one a day beginning on May 11th – the two-year mark since Gidget has been gone. As I write this post my YouTube channel is busy at work uploading all the chapter excerpts. It was quite the task, but I felt strongly called to do this creative project in honor of Gidget. Another way in which I continue to nurture her many gifts to me and sharing them with others in the hope they will be beneficial for the healing journey of others. 

Gidget was my mirror to listen to the little girl within me that had been in pain for many, many years, but stuffed it down for fear of not being heard, understood, or believed. But as I’d come to realize it was the now-adult version of me that had to listen. From that listening, I learned how to nurture that small child within me. To hold her, soothe her, and let her know it was all going to be okay.

Yesterday I recorded an excerpt from the chapter titled No Place Like Home. This chapter is when I realize all the inner work I’d done as I healed the pain from a childhood trauma was now reflecting in my home. John and I were remodeling the kitchen and living room. We took out a partial wall from between the kitchen and living room, painted the walls a light gray, and changed to soft tones of beige, blue and green colors for the living room furniture from the dark teal, green and maroon they were.

When we take care of our inner world the outside world of our existence takes care of itself.

Sunday as I perused a home decor magazine which is one of my favorite things to do, I came across the quote by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

In between my project of recording the book excerpts I’ve been planning for a raised bed garden — a first for me. Years and years ago we had a garden plot in our yard dug by rototiller, but then it fell to the wayside — as the busyness of life can sometimes steal right from under you.

But this new way of gardening with raised beds really appealed to me. If I start small, I thought, I can manage it more easily and add more the following year if I wish. Scouring the internet I found this 4 x 4 raised bed plan I fell in love with. I especially love the bench on each side. Nice for sitting to plant seeds, weed, and pick the crops when ready, while appealing to the eye. But I’m also envisioning it as a lovely place to just sit and relax sometimes.

I purchased organic seeds from Everwilde Farms and after receiving them realized I’d forgotten to order spinach and swiss chard. In the back of my mind, I worried I wouldn’t have enough room for everything I want to plant thinking I’d just have to plant some things in containers.

It was a few hours later when John mentioned that we should perhaps make the garden 4 x 8 instead. He had calculated out the cost for additional cedar and it didn’t add too much more to the total. I had my confirmation that the plans I had for the additional seeds I needed to get were a go-ahead!

Today as I dream more about this new experience of having a raised bed garden the thought of nurturing trickled through my mind again. As I continue to nurture my relationship with Gidget even though she is no longer here physically, I’m reminded of her potent teaching to continue to nurture my inner world.

As I plant vegetable seeds I nurture my connection to the earth and nature. As I harvest the crops I help to nurture the insides of our bodies with good food, which helps nurture our minds and spirit. This brings me full circle back to the quote above — and how when we take care of our inner world, the outside world by default reflects this back in the most beautiful way.

XO,

Barb

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