Equal Rights

Equality
To be honest, I am scared to post the below, and I don't like that in myself. But, I'm not very courageous. It is easier to remain silent on controversial subjects. Then again, no one may read this, but it's important for me to change me. So, today, I'm daring to be brave. For me the right thing to do is speak up.

Look at my new profile symbol. To me, it is a symbol for unity and equality. Those are words I learned as a child. They are words/meanings our country is built on, I was taught. I believe that we strive hard to live up to them. It's one of the things I love about being an American.

We citizens have experienced growing pains understanding those two words. Pain that has hurt many, but helped even more. For over 200 years, we've slowly learned about unity and equality, and we've been able to change, see others as equals when we never could before.  We have a chance to learn an even deeper meaning for unity and equality as an outcome of the events of today. I pray we do.

I take the right being discussed in the Supreme Court today for granted. Many can't.

To form a civil union - in our country called marriage, with the one you love and with whom you share your life and assets, should be a right of all Americans. No question. "Equal rights" is part of the USA foundation.

So for today, though the box I chose to live in may be of a more conventional color than someone else's, I am hoping for support of a deeper understanding of equal rights in the United States of America. So what if their box is painted like a rainbow and mine is pink and blue. As the Supreme Court listens to arguments on fellow American's rights to marry in California, I hope we all focus on unity and equality. My status symbol represents that.

Turkeys, Horses and This and That

Mother Nature, Mother Earth, I apologize for my grumpy attitude yesterday. You sent me SUN this morning and I bounced through my French doors on the way to the barn. You even made my horses happy.
Kash, the youngster in the horse brigade was nose to the ground chasing the turkeys in the field. The big Toms sounded like old men gargling after a night at the pub, tails fanned in defiance. The hens scurried, as best as feathered butterballs can under the fence. Our dogs chased the squirrels into the trees, the Toms strutted off and Kash headed to the barn where the other horses waited for breakfast.

I fed the crew, and turned out the cat. Last I saw, she was stalking a shadow behind the horse trailer. It's going to be that kind of day. Energy filled, looking for excitement, chasing the sunshine. Thank you ladies for today and I bow to your wisdom. Today wouldn't feel so special if I hadn't had yesterday to remember.

Talking to Mother Nature

Rain, wind, cold, outside my French doors, Mother Earth is shrugging off her winter wear and searching for her spring bonnet. "Next year," I grumble, "I hope you're better organized." I slog my way to the barn, throwing mean thoughts at her. She rumbles back. We have these kind of conversations often, especially this time of year.

The downpour makes me feel persecuted. I push open the stable doors and scurry inside, filled to the brim with bad humors.

Then, as usual the magic happens. Rain on the metal roof, soft nickers, crunching hay, the sounds of being in a good place, settle me. Scents of soft horse necks, fresh, rinsed air, well-drenched ground, reduce my hunger for sunshine.

I stand for a while in this place I love, soaking in the peace of a stable in bad weather. It is where it all comes together for me, where positive obliterates negative. I think of ill friends, those troubled and in need. My needs are so trivial in comparison. In this place, I realize somewhere there is a peaceful place for them, too, and they will find it. It is no longer an "I hope" thought, it is truth. I feel I've been given a gift of knowledge and make a note to self to write it down.

Kash rattles his bucket. Life hums into my quiet wonder. It is okay. All will be okay. A raincoat of satisfaction slides around me, makes my tasks easy. I toss down hay, clean stalls, freshen water.

Chores finished, I see the horses are restless. I understand, open their stalls and watch them head to the pasture. A little water won't hurt them. I do not rush back to the house, but ease from the barn, wander from puddle to puddle. Rain kisses my face. Perhaps, Mother Nature isn't disorganized, perhaps she is wise? Perhaps, I should apologize to her?

I stop outside my French doors and think about that. She did help me see things from a different angle, but was the rotten weather really necessary? Sharp wind and cold water smack the back of my neck. I look up with a glare and say, "If you bring sunshine tomorrow, I might say sorry, but not today."

Weather, I Wish

Weather, I Wish

Straight down like glass bullets, the rain targets the earth. The thunder, invisible shot in the sky, causes our dogs to move, restless, anxious, listening. I look outside. The atmosphere is very disturbed. I watch for lightning. I like to make a wish when I see it.

The canines circle, settle at my feet. Ears pricked, bodies tremble, the message is clear. Danger.

Poor innocent dogs, I think, they don't have a clue what's going on. I murmur reassurance, confident, perhaps a bit overly so, lightning choses its victims at random, that all will be well and the bad weather will pass without inflicting pain. Why do I think this?

Sometimes, before a storm is near, I see the worry in the dogs eyes, or cows lying down in a field, and know I'd better get the outside chores done. Today was one of those days. The hay is in the run-in and I'm in the house. I've learned to read some signs and feel unafraid, confident. I'm so smart…Or have I simply been lucky?

My ears prick. Stories begin to swirl around me. I listen to sounds hard to understand. Another storm is brewing, but this one is an inner one. The thunder in my head is making me restless, making me cower from visions I try to avoid, the senseless deaths of innocents, the hatred some have of those different from themselves, the irrational fears of misguided souls. I feel like the dogs, I don't have a clue as to the 'WHY?' behind the chaos. Sometimes, what happens outside my French doors makes me sad, makes me tremble.

My melancholy eases as the dogs settle and the sky stills, and in an instant, hope takes its place.

If, we humans learn to watch more closely, learn to listen better with our feelings, then won't our world have a chance of being a haven where all are safe from the storms created in disturbed minds?

The weather I cannot control begins to rumble, again. Lightning flashes.
If, we cannot be safe, then my wish is that we will always be lucky.

Weather Report

This morning clouds smoke by like steam from an old train, moving on, moving on, glazing the tops of trees with silver, teasing the light trying to stop at our station. Makes me want to take a little trip back to a time of linens on tables, sipping from china cups, curious peeks from windows as towns sat still and passengers made up stories as to the lives lived outside train windows. 
If the wheels ceased turning, doors slid open, and people ventured forth, what would they find here in Paradise today? At Misty Hill, a cardinal kissing the earth, wind chimes flirting with a song, "It's quiet here, just enough music to soothe the soul" a robin, red breast puffed with pride in greeting, would meet them, outside my French doors.