Mom comes to Crickhollow

Yesterday, Harriet, my Atlanta sister-in-law, and my 90 year old mother came for lunch in the country.  It was a good visit stretching from lunchtime until evening with time spent in the garden admiring the herbs and flowers and ignoring the weeds.  Mom is pretty sharp for a nonagenarian.  She wants one of everything for her garden when I get ready to dig up and split some of my plants and she was fascinated by the moonflower vine.  We chatted in front of the fire sipping wine and eating pie until the light began to fade, discussing our histories, our relatives, Sunday's sermons in our churches, and what was coming up for us next.  After they left for Mom's home I sat outside watching the waxing gibbous moon rise over the trees and waited for my darling husband.  As I watched, I saw his truck move very slowly down the drive, occasionally stopping.  When he finally parked beside the house he explained that a very large red fox had been walking in front of him all the way down the drive.  When he neared the house the fox turned and looked at him then slipped into the forest.  He reckoned that what I thought was a young cougar was actually this large red fox.  Maybe...or maybe it is a shapechanger.  The Cherokee, from whose people I claim some of my genetic makeup, believed that the fox brought healing.  As I continue to find limitations in my stamina I am glad to have been blessed with the presence of a fox.

Bovine Blues

Keeping Sabbath at Crickhollow takes many forms for me.  Knitting by a fire, cooking some slow food, swimming, gardening, walking in the woods, or just sitting outside with a glass of wine are all ways of keeping Sabbath, because these solitary moments open me up to the presence of God.  I woke up on Friday morning to a sound in the distance that took me back to the Chicago El (no, not the God of Chicago, but their public transport train system).  There was often a man under the tracks playing his saxaphone.  He would play marvelous jazzy bluesy music that always brought a smile to my face as I walked from the EL station.  With my eyes closed I snuggled down in the covers and listened to the distant music, when I realized it was cattle bellowing somewhere off beyond the woods.  These cows were pretty good at their mournful music.  A little later I sat outside with my morning coffee listening to the music of life around me, birds singing, woodpeckers laughing, dogs barking, and the mournful background of Bovine Blues.

Crickhollow Retreat

The herb lady came to Crickhollow for a 24 hour retreat.  She helped me harvest herbs and hang them in between meditation and reading.  While picking herbs we discovered a beautiful zipper spider on the dining room window.  It was a time of listening to birdsong, watching lizards, sharing food and dreams, enjoying fire, water, earth, and clean crisp air.