Maria decided on a personal, simple birthday acknowledgment. It wasn’t a party or a celebration in the traditional sense of the term, but it was Maria, pure and through.

She asked a few close friends to come over while we lit a bonfire to mark her 60th birthday. There were animals, of course (Zip was hospitable; he greeted everybody, and Fate and Zinnia attended), and the donkeys came over for carrots. We served cookies and hot chocolate and sat and talked for three to four hours. It was chilly but warm in comparison to recent weather.

The love these women have for one another made me happy and sad. Men rarely make connections like this, I know I haven’t. It was uplifting to see. I’m not in this circle, really,  but I felt a part of it today.

It was beautiful, quiet, simple, warm, and very peaceful. Maria has some wonderful friends, and I greatly appreciated the quiet, fire, and beauty—Happy birthday, Maria; as always, you did it your way. No presents, no song, just talking and soaking in the beauty around us.

I’m calling it Manure Hill; soon, we’ll get a tractor over here to spread the manure pile over the pasture, as we did last year. Fate had a good time running circles around the sheep.