There’s been a dedicated effort to work a bit indoors on the studio lately. The room (his name is James, after James Baldwin) is empty and we’re hemming and hawing on whether to gut the entire room right now or just paint it and make it usable. We’re getting tired of the band-aids that others before us have piled on this poor little house but at the same time we understand; sometimes it’s the best you can do at the time. Besides the bedrooms, it’s the last drop-ceiling room with paneling (light blue and gold fake wood paneling with black trim – oooooh!). But at least we did find a good hardwood floor beneath the crappy subfloor – it’s not great, but it is good. I’ll take that. But it means that everything that was in the studio is now in the ‘dining room/library’ (his name is Stan). Everything. It’s an unusable space right now – packed with boxes and tiny paths to water the plants.
In other adventures, the sap is flowing – it will be a warm one this week so there is likely to be a lot of sap, and likely boiling this weekend – come on up and stand around the sugar shack! Take a wooded walk (there is a snowmobile path cleared, just listen for those motor-sleds! I can make a nice warmy lunch while you track bunnies and deer on the property or practice your tree identification via Winter twigs. Do let us know if you can join us!
And I have spent most of my time these last few weeks in the bed’womb’ (her name is Oasis, which it is not yet but heading in that direction) as it is quiet and dark there – good for my ailing head/shingles/issues. I am still very tired/itchy/with sharp pain pangs in the head/ear but on the mend. I have had great care from my lovely Tulips (and friends – look at the lovely handcrafted chocolates I got! And an intriguing new design book, and my baby made me a pine crown!). On a few days I get a good couple of hours where I can feel human but it tires me so – for example, I had a lovely long meeting with my collaborative art group (with a wonderful guest herbalist speaker) on Saturday, then back to back meetings – though both very mentally and spiritually stimulating – on Sunday, caused me to be in bed all day Monday. So, I get spurts. Again, I’ll take it.
And that’s the thing; we all have so many struggles day to day, some big, some small and direct and there is a concern that utopic feelings are hopeless and useless (dystopic, really) but we need the reach. We need to acknowledge the small successes as part and parcel of larger success. There is no perfect anything – just a strong survival skill in the processes of satisfaction. I’ll take satisfaction in any manner these days. As my grandmother used to say, “A man on a galloping horse would never know the difference”. Wise words. Some days need to be enjoyed for their ‘good enough’ quality.
Rock Bottom Homestead 