Take time out ...

Yes, I have a pretty laid back life compared to those of you I know that read my blog. But I'd like to remind you my life here isn't always easy and fun. But once in awhile as I begin to feel things collapsing in on me I get unexpectedly rewarded.

I guess most mornings I drag my sorry hind end out of bed with aches and pains, sometimes a hang over feeling in my head without the previous night's consumption of too much alcohol, and a dog who appears out of no where from the heavy down comforter, tail wagging, jumping down and springs to life with a shake he starts his springing up and down ... his signal for "I gotta go -

and I gotta go NOW!"

The house is still dark. Sunrise will come in a matter of minutes. So I grope for my glasses, try to get my land legs, and usually bumping the door frame, walking zig-zag to the kitchen I feel the chilly linoleum of the kitchen on my bare feet, reaching for the coffee pot I fill it with water to heat my tea water, flip on the machine, and all the while have Bacci springing up and down and dancing around my feet giving me the second act of "Oh, Oh, I really have to go NOW!" Most mornings I try to stumble to the bath to do "that man thing" before he gets to go out to do his "dog thing". As I step out into the mudroom a much cooler air hits my face, bare chest, and feet. And like this morning I open the back door and the coldness nearly makes the hair on my arms brittle and my fingers feel like stubs. Bacci bursts out from under my legs to go do his thing and I slam the door behind him. As I wait to let him back in I scan the horizon from west to east. Pike's Peak this time of morning can be an amazingly stunning site. Today though the peak and the Sangre de Christos to the south are blanketed in heavy clouds. It's only as I look to the south and then the east that I am gently rewarded with a beautiful sunrise.

I quickly grab my work pants hanging in the mudroom and slide them on, throw on my insulated barn jacket to cover my bare chest, slide on my boots and step out into the bitter dry cold. I just had to take pictures of the dramatic show taking place in my side yard.

Ah, Life at Wandering Bear Farm ...

No need for words

Taos

This week I was asked to watch my friend's sweet Doberman, Taos. Bill rescued him this last year from a rescue group. Taos is sweet and gentle and has been fun to have here. He and Bacci have been together before and get along great.

It didn't take him long to discover that Bacci's bed is heated ...




And it took him less time to discover that my bed was bigger. Oh, if only his dad soaking up sun in Hawaii knew he was on the bed!


But Taos has one small behavior issue ... when I ran out to check the heat on the chicks he decided to shred Bacci's heated bed! Including the heating pad. When I came back into the house the breakers had been tripped. Needless to say I have had to keep him in his kennel much more than he'd like. He's still a sweet and gentle dog.

Keeping a perspective

One day a father of a wealthy family took his son on a trip to the country with the express purpose of showing him how poor people live. They spent a couple of days and nights on the farm of what would be considered a very poor family.

On the trip back home the father asked the son, "How was the trip?" The son replied, "It was great dad"

"Did you see how poor people live?" asked the father.

"Oh yeah" the son said.

"So, tell me, what did you learned from the trip?" the father asked.

The son answers:

" I see that we have one dog and they have four.

We have a pool that reaches to the middle of our garden and they have a creek that has no end.

We have imported lanterns and they have the stars at night.

Our patio reaches to the front yard and they have the horizon.

We have a small piece of land to live on and they have fields that go beyond our sight.

We have servants that serve us and they serve others.

We buy our food but they grow theirs.

We have walls around our property to protect us and they have friends to protect them."

The father was speechless. Then the son added "Thanks dad for showing me how poor we are."

First off, this is not my writing. But after I read this it gave me a much better perspective of the person that I am and the person that I try to be. I don't have a lot of big fancy things. No fancy truck, not one acre to my name, no big home, no designer clothes, no jewels, no big name high tech computer or a phone that practically decides for you what you want to eat.

What I do have are many friends and a family who loves me to pieces. Yes, I get lonely often out here but it's all of you that keep me happy, healthy, and loved. I don't care if I have known you for years or just a week. If you and I have made a connection then you are a friend of mine. And that makes me a very wealthy man.

I hope that in the next many weeks during the holidays that you think of me whether we are face to face or miles apart ... because I will be thinking of all of you. I hope that the holidays that you chose to celebrate in your home are full of love and happiness. I am an even luckier man because I am spending Christmas with my adopted family in Bassfield, Mississippi. It's a haul to get there and back but I know while I am there that I will be surrounded by more love, happiness, and affection than I can possibly carry home. I hope you are as lucky as I am and you are enveloped in love as well.

New additions

On Saturday the 14th my friend Loyd from TX and I drove north of here just a few miles away in the 40mph winds to pick up my new Americauna pullet chicks. Americaunas are the chickens that lay the blue green eggs. These chicks are now about five weeks old. They spent three days down in the basement under a heat lamp during our last storm. I can't describe the smell ... they had to go! Loyd was nice enough to help me get an old cage covered in cardboard for insulation and get it set up in the chicken coop. As of today the dozen chicks are doing great. Unfortunately they seem to all be of the same color blend. I was kind of hoping to add additional colors to the big flock.

I think that maybe the chicks will be the same color tones as little Henny Penny that I purchased a little while back.

Decisions

Sometimes life just stinks. We all have those times in life when we have to make gut wrenching choices. For me most of the time those gut wrenchers involve love. And last Friday morning I was faced with an awful decision. I went out as usual in the morning to the barn to feed everyone. My usual routine is to feed Hunter and Shadow because they meet me at the door and get under my feet fighting for attention. Next are the goats because they don't shut up until they have hay in their mouths. LOL. Then I make my way to throw the chickens treats of stale bread and some old goat grain. On my way out of the barn I was stunned to see that Shadow was limping and had a pretty good size patch of skin torn away from his hip. So I picked him up, checked it out, and knew right away that it was time to see a vet. The patch was about five inches long and five wide and the skin was just hanging. So after running to Al and Bill's to get a carrier I ran him to the vet. I'd called ahead so the vet tech knew to expect me. A sweet woman who knew what she was doing and was very kind and gentle with Shadow ... and me. After a brief exam by her she told me the vet was tied up with a major surgery and wouldn't be able to check out Shadow until late in the day. But she was able to give me an estimate of the cost of services and I nearly needed medical care myself. The bill would start at $375.00. That included anesthesia, surgery, antibiotics, and on and on. My immediate reaction was to say OK. Those two "mousers" where brought to the farm to do just that. Of course they have wormed their way into my heart. I am a softy ... cat, dog, goat, horse, or chicken.

As I drove home I decided to call my best friend to get his opinion so that I wasn't acting on emotions. And it was probably the best thing I did. I just could not justify paying that kind of money to save a barn cat. I need that kind of money to save or feed Bacci, or my goats, or heat the house, or a whole list of other priorities. So I called the clinic back to tell them to euthanize Shadow. It killed me but it was a needed decision.

Now, there's a twist to this story and I am beginning to believe the whole "Nine lives" story about cats. Later the clinic called me back and to tell me that another vet tech came in and saw Shadow and had lost her cat just a few weeks back. She wanted to adopt Shadow and pick up all expenses. So within a few seconds I made the decision to let her take him and Shadow got a new lease on life! Hunter misses him I can tell. I miss him really bad. But it was down to a hair in decisions that gave him a chance to live. No more chasing mice in the fields or dodging a hawk or owl's talons. He's a house cat now!

The loss of followers

Oh geez! That title sounds like I am a cult leader doesn't it? LOL!

I was informed last night that if I didn't update my blog I'd be losing followers! So here's an update about what's going on at Wandering Bear Farm. The past couple weeks I have had a huge burden on my shoulders. After the last storm my stomach has been a mess over the problems with lack of insulation and proper weatherization of this old house when they updated the siding and the interior. I have been so twisted up that it ruined sleep and my appetite. If you don't know me by now, I can get pretty obsessed about stuff. I also have just a small amount of ability to worry over stuff .... Now at this point I can hear most of you laughing hilariously at that understatement. I'll pop you on the side of your head next time we see each other. OK? (G)

As soon as the storm ended. and I cleared my head, I settled down, I sat down and wrote a polite but direct letter to my landlord describing the three days of storm effects on me and the house. In the meantime I talked continually with my best friend and old roommate, Michael and we came up with a "Plan B' so I had something to fall back on just in case. Within a few days I got an email from the landlord telling me she'd be out as soon as possible to see these issues for herself. Yesterday she came out with one of the family's handymen and I showed them all of the issues. For the most part the handyman agreed with me about particular remedies that could be handled immediately. A couple items are going to take more organization and time.

Foam insulation is going to be blown in along the sill plate and foundation, measurements were taken for a new storm door for the "back door", and we figured out where leaks might be in the duct system. At some point the attic will be insulated but that's going to take some time to get done. Reality is that this is a very old farm house. It's going to have it's list of issues and it's going to have it's challenges. But it's nice to know I do have the support of the owners to keep the property in good condition. Hopefully these upgrades will make the next few winter storms a bit more bearable.

I am so happy here the thought of having to move because the house is not habiltable would be overwhelming. Oh sure I'd be a mess during the move and resettlement process but for sure I would land on my feet like I always seem to do. Maybe I'd have a scar or three, but maybe I'd do like I usually do and chaulk it up with the other life experiences that make me the man I am today. Not many people have the nerve or drive to take on a challenge like this and I am aware of that. Trying not to sound arrogant, I am pretty proud of my acheivements out here, emotionally and physically. And I have a million more dreams and ideas that I'd like to see happen on this little piece of land.

But of course without a small circle of very close friends none of this would be possible. Your phone calls, emails, dinners, and constant concern get me through the long, quiet, lonely days. For all of you in my life I am truly forever grateful.

And to date, that is Life at Wandering Bear Farm! ~B.