i am a slow bloomer. i take time. This is looking out, down the slope to the Hut site at B. I am where i often sit these days, above, over through the trees from the Travel Trailer at C. Where it is cooler and where there is always the at least small breeze. Sometimes Wind. But shade.
for the first time today, i brought this laptop friend OUT Here. I brought the phone, which connects me to the Internet. With what i imagine is the new additional tower, Verizon has hooked me In and i can sit here, on the Earth, in leaf and pine needle mulched ground and
write this. I have been here, over an hour, going back and answering the comments of the last few posts. Sun has traveled across the sky. Wind has rustled branches, leaves have fluttered down, black butterflies and black and yellow butterflies have passed near.
Sitting here, there's been NO insects, other than the butterflies. No ants even. None. There is so much i want to learn. When i change the water for the chicken Talkie, under her water bottle are small ants. So...ants ARE here. When i forget and leave the door window open in the travel trailer, flies come in to drive me nuts. But no flies here. No ants. No spiders. No ticks. Just earth and trees and wind and dappled sunlight
So, from where i'm sitting, down the SLOPE 80 some feet, is that first crossbeam of the frame of the hut. Then, across the 14 ft of the whole frame to another maybe 15 ft of flat and then a maybe 20 ft of drop slope to the road/driveway and 20 feet across that to the rim for some maybe 20 more feet of a gentle slope to the edge of the drop off that dives down to the creek/canal.
There is a board pointing up toward the middle of the photograph...to trees...and these are the Tops of trees probably 40/50 ft tall that are growing on that final slide down to the creek. If you can see a small light square in those trees, at the center of the pic directly up from the extending board....that is some building...miles away...and up as the valley rises in that distance. The sky....the green line and the blue sky....these are MANY MANY miles away and UP.
Does this make any sense?
This morning we planted Alyssia's two trees in holes that Jenny had made with the rented Excavator yesterday. It digs through the rocks. They had rented to continue the trench for the water line. That was yesterday. If we had dug the holes for the two trees with a shovel and pick it would have taken a couple days. Sunday morning is also drop off day for Fate. His father brings him and daughter Jenny, his grandmother, delivers him to his mother. Shared custody. Every week. So usually he needs to be returned on time, but we needed the early day to plant the trees and asked if he could stay a while. Ok. So he helped in his almost 3 year way to Give water to the hole, to water the landscape tubs with the trees. As we worked, adding some of the Goat Manure compost to the holes, getting the planting depth correct, easing the root ball from the pots, the Sun rose and we were sweating and hot...we took off his shirt. Wanted to take off our own. When we were finished, we went to sit by the canal/creek in the shade, Fate with his usual loved pastime of throwing stones into the water, but it was approaching 100 degrees and i moved to sit on the metal culvert and brought him down to sit between my legs. We dangled our feet in the water. And i thought....why not? and moved him with instructions to WAIT....and got IN. It was over my waist and i reached up and lifted him down and IN too....he was startled and thrilled and i told him to splash and kick and i splashed and it was ok because Jenny was there to save us if we got too crazy. And i was filled with joy.
this is what i wanted to come for. To be here NOW for. While i can still do these things. While i can be the only adult so far to GET IN the creek, they say it's very cold...it's not, it's a fast flowing creek, and it's just FOR getting In to....and when we were done, my wet clothes kept me cool for hours. I am day by day more aware of how incredibly amazing a gift all this is. That i had the courage to let go. To take the risk.
