New Life… Peace…The Promise…
Today I uncovered the plants that I covered before a storm that dropped the temperature from almost 100 degrees for three days in a row to a low of 25. Today I felt what I am pretty sure Noah felt like when he saw the rainbow after the flood. Today I uncovered my beautiful Peace Rose, Ruth to find a beautiful vibrant bloom and another bud ready to pop. Today I felt the promise of Peace and LIFE.
I spent three days navigating oppressive heat, wind and smoke from a nearby fire to harvest and ready as many vegetables and flowers as I could. In the middle of these days a friend called me to say she was put on volunteer evacuation and wondered if we could take her horse. Of course the horse came to us. His name is M&M which is short for Music Man. I knew another Music Man who lived many, many years, I believe it was 40 plus, and was a terrific healer. I was intrigued to get to know this other Music Man. He has a very musical neigh as he calls out to my herd when they venture into the pasture.
I digress, just a little, because on day 3 as I was tucking in my bees and preparing to cover as many plants as I could, this same friend was given the order of mandatory evacuation, could we take her dogs and store her camper and other trailer here. Again…. Of course!
So now I’m attempting to figure out when to cover the plants because the temperatures are currently too high for that. Watching the eerie colors in the smoke filled sky and breathing in not too clean air. I was stressing about the horses and how they would handle such a severe temperature drop, while pulling out blankets that I do not ordinarily use, but with this type of event knew they may be necessary, and anticipating two dogs to add to our crew.
The chickens and peacocks got extra herbal remedy for the sneezes and coughs that were developing with the smoky air. The horses were snorting more than normal and I felt a constant rasp in my throat. The sky looked positively ‘end of the world’ from the fire that was growing exponentially.
I learned that the fire could be threatening my Mother who lives in a mountain town that originally was quite far from the source of this fire. Now I had that to consider as I remained focused on saving what I could from my garden and supporting all of the species that relied on my.
My friend arrived and dropped off the dogs and the trailers.
An evacuation plan with my Mother was firmly in place, time to begin covering plants because the temperature is finally dropping. But of course, with this extreme of a temperature drop the winds began howling.
While covering one bed the tarp got away from me while Jay was securing the other end. The corner whipped up in perfect bullwhip fashion and tagged me on the forehead taking a chunk of skin with it. Just enough to remind me to be more alert and careful about handling these tarps in the wind.
Exhausted and needing to get to bed so I could get to work on time at a ‘not made for mankind’ early hour, I sat at the kitchen table with a glass of wine to unwind. I sent my friend photos of the dogs settling in and got a text back asking if we could also take her cat because where she was didn’t work.
Of course!
Jay stayed up and got the cat settled in – as well as a stressed cat in an unfamiliar environment can settle in….
I got up in the middle of the night and trekked into the storm for work. Thankfully I was able to leave early because of the threat of a worsening storm.
Yesterday was a day of monitoring and supporting the horses in whatever way they needed to navigate the cold, wet, windy day. Extra hay. Whole oats. Blankets for those who needed.
Today, the dogs are feeling like they are part of the routine here, even enough to bark when I arrived home this afternoon J . The cat is still hiding but she is eating and using the litter box while she appears as a ghost. Now you see her, now you don’t. M&M has made a friend in Otto.
Our temperatures are supposed to be in the 80’s by the weekend so I felt the need to uncover things so they don’t bake. I was so happy to see that everything looked good. Then, the last plant I uncovered was Ruth. The Peace Rose.
What a beautiful surprise. A vibrant, full bloom. Another bud ready to pop. I felt such a wash of support. Such a wash of hope. Such a wash of promise.
There is always the promise of peace and hope on the horizon friends. Always.
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