A Deep Breath

Chore time, red mud boots sticking out from under my long skirt, denim and a pink and blue print with garden tools on it, the boots don't match, but they do the job. My old green chore jacket, torn a bit under one arm, pockets filled with bits of hay and a few odd items. A bit like what you would expect in a small boys pockets, a pretty rock, an old key ring, that sort of thing.

Dirt covered work gloves flopping out of another pocket. This jacket is like an old friend. It has kept me warm in the middle of the night when a goat was having trouble kidding. It has kept me cozy while playing Frisbee or working on some special project.

I went outside, camera hanging around my neck, expecting to capture the beauty of new roses or of the tiny chicks just getting their first feathers, but what I saw, took me aback. Maybe a sign, a lesson, a reminder of what I had written about this morning. A huge branch of a tree broken, so close to Emery's work shop. Right in the place were we have worked so many times in the last month. I don't know when it happened. I didn't notice it being down yesterday and its really kind of hard to miss. Maybe it happened this morning or last night. Whatever, this fallen tree branch felt surreal to me. It reaches all the way to the ground, it would have hurt someone seriously had there been someone under it. I took in a deep breath... thankful for life.

the tree

some of our roses in bloom

a garden squirrel

a warm cup of cappuccino after chores were done