Stacked!

Last night was the first night I slept without getting up and freezing my tush taking Her Highness out to pee. I exhausted her yesterday while I was stacking wood so she slept really well.

I had a tough but great day yesterday.

When the day broke the sun shot low winter light through the trees. It was reflected off every needle on every Fir tree; they were, each one of them, dripping with water. Ferns unloaded little rivulets when the wind blew their fronds. The tree branches and trunks shone wet and a slightly blue mist filled the air as water evaporated off everything; the mist revealing the rays of the sun striating through the trees.

There were yellow leaves on the Maples visible through the wall of Firs. They gleamed in the light and beautiful copper brown bundles of expired blossoms tumbled down in clumps off the branches of a wild bush in my yard.

Stellar Jays screamed and Tits flitted almost unseen. The sky was a rich deep blue. There were brilliant white clouds, no wind and only birdsong for sound. A neighbour’s chickens escaped and roared down the road — designer egg layers, one with a truly magnificent topknot, one blue and one a spectacular speckled black and white.

And what did I do? I loaded, unloaded, lifted, bent down, stretched my back and repeated it all a dozen times before taking a break. That was the pattern as I stacked my wood. It was only my second load of and I already hate that I will have to do this two or three times a year.

I took deep breaths: Short term pain for long-term heat, I thought. At least as I worked I could hear to the hot tub where I knew the day would end. I needed that vision because I had no sweets to keep me going. No chocolate, no ice cream, no donuts, no pie. Bad planning.

I persevered, however, and Mr. Diligence, who began at roughly 7:30, finished at 1:00 after folding up the tarp — just as the clouds rolled back in. I showered and went into town to get pie (Blueberry) then errands and after that, home to hot tub.

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I feel so good here. There is so much to do and it’s all so satisfying — yard work, pet play housework. And thank God because I don’t watch any TV. Even Netflix bores me. Instead, I find ways to stay active and then I go to bed early to compensate for the 2:30/3:00 am wake and walk.

This morning I meet Chalise, a new pet walker, who’ll be sitting my pets on Monday. And then more yard work as long as the rain holds off. I really want to get rid of the rotting palettes and fetid compost today if I can. Then Pinecone Park will be looking pretty good.

I found some left over half-logs in the garbage heap out back by my cistern that I am going to use to make a long low planter in front of the studio. I can put flowers in it because now my yard is deer proof and it’ll brighten up my view.

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I read last night that the tsunami that struck northeast Japan in 2011 has carried almost 300 species of sea life thousands of miles across the Pacific Ocean to the west coast of North America.  In what’s being called the longest maritime migration ever recorded, an estimated one million creatures – including crustaceans, sea slugs and sea worms – made the 4,800-mile (7,725km) journey on a flotilla of tsunami debris.

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Yesterday there was an item on the news about a horridly cruel murder of a deer. It was horrifying to listen to the commentary about young men having fun killing an animal. I didn’t look at any of the pictures. Instead, I watched a beautiful young buck with little buck antlers who was coincidently walking slowly, precisely and gracefully through the bushes and across my front lawn.

They are living sculptures, as are our glorious turkeys that I also saw yesterday. How anyone can kill an animal is beyond me to understand. I’m such wuss that I can barely even prune plants.