Happy is the one who walks otherwise, than in the manner of the heedless, say the Psalms.
Who stands otherwise
than in the way of the twisted
Who does not sit in the seat of the scornful
But finds delight in the loveliness of things
And lives by that pattern all day and night –
Not so the heedless
They are like chaff scattered by the wind
Endlessly driven, they cannot occupy their place
And so can never be joined.
What you see is always lovely and remembered. But the way of the heedless is oblivion.
So this, then is the choice for me. To be endlessly driven by the worries and dangers and darkness of the world.
Or to delight in the loveliness of things. The meaning of a tear. The beauty of a snowfall. The soft sighs of a forest. The warm touch of a donkey’s nose. The love of a dog. The warmth of a friend. A courtesy extended. Or received. A person encouraged. The loveliness of things.
I have never seen a hen like Meg. During the ice storm, the donkeys huddled under the covered feeder trying to stay dry. The barn cats and the other chickens holed up in their roost. Meg sashayed out and up the hill and hopped up on Lulu’s back to keep out of the snow and icy rain. Meg, I said, you are a strange hen. Go inside your roost! She simply clucked at me.
A farm is filled with drama, large and small. An ice storm – the nastiest weather I have ever seen – hit this morning. I had already fallen down twice on the way to the barn. Simon was lagging behind Lulu and Fanny – his legs are much stiffer and more feeble than theirs and he slipped and got stuck on a treacherous spot by the steps. He was braying loudly, but could not move. I got up to him and using a grain bucket led him up the hill and through the pasture gate to the other side of the barn, which we opened up to let him in. We kept him in the barn for five or six hours and much of the ice melted. We put down animal-friendly salt and he made it back up to the Pole Barn.
I shudder to think of him falling on the ice. He brayed loudly, and Lulu and Fanny answered from inside the barn. It is profoundly touching to see how much the donkeys worry about one another.
Getting ready for Orlando. The bitter cold and ice and snow has helped me focus on the positive side of Orlando. It’s in the 60’s there. It’s -8 here. I am looking forward to speaking about “Going Home: Finding Peace When Pets Die” at the North American Veterinary Conference. It was at the NAVC three years ago that vets first suggested the idea for the book to me. I am staying in Orlando for a couple of days to talk to the vets and also rush off to the Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom and Sea World. My former girlfriend, who disdained the very idea of Disney World when we met, now has a long list of “must-sees” – It’s a Small World, Peter Pan Ride, the Haunted House. I want to see Pirates of the Caribbean and ride Splash Mountain.
We also love walking around Animal Kingdom, which we have already done several times in our short marriage. When we first went there a couple of winters ago – a bleak winter – we saw the “Dreams Come True” show at the Magic Kingdom, where they sing about dreams coming true. Maria said I was crying. They were right. A lot of my dreams have come true. I love Disney World and have often intersected with it. I took my daughter there several times, and often wrote about Disney’s view of technology, for Wired, Rolling Stone and other places. I get anxious about leaving the farm and the animals, but I told the very competent people staying here that the farm is theirs, and good luck with it. In this kind of cold, the animals don’t move much anyway.
I am fussing as usual over what technology to take. The Iphone, yes. The Ipad, yes. I think I will take my laptop and card reader and the small Lummix Camera, and take some photos and blog a bit from the veterinary convention and also from Disney World and Orlando. Feels right to me. It’s a quasi-vacation, so I don’t want to be taking photos and blogging all day, but there is sure to be some things to share, and I will share them. It isn’t work for me.
We leave way before dawn, behind a nasty storm and ahead of a brutal cold wave. All things considered, the timing is right.
