Kids, the farm and now a days

Ya know I was thinking, a dangerous route for me these days, when I speak about the farm, as it’s still called Journey’s End Farm, it seems like an old fashion farm from 50+ years ago. Wood burning cook stoves, wood piles, the woods, the fields, etc. etc. But in actuality Journeys End Farm has come along way. There was a time when we had goats, pigs, chickens (and roosters), rabbits, horses and of course the beloved house pets.
The children, in their day, would have to carry 5 gallon water buckets out to the barn for the horses, water the chickens, feed the goats etc. etc. all before school on any given weekday.
We never had the fancy electric water heaters.

Then of course came the interruptions of life in their (the children) teenage years, which put all chores, responsibilities etc on a slow burning back burner. Decisions had to be made about priorities and needs. That in itself is also a lesson we need to learn in life

The farm didn’t win.
The horses went and the boyfriends came.
The rabbits went and the cars came.
Well, today it’s no longer a mini-farm, like we use to boast in the 60’s and 70’s. The Mother Earth Farm. Today, it’s rather quite different. The farm is mostly my flower gardens, (which are turning into bush gardens to eliminate the deer problem) and my bird feeders.
I still sit and identify the birds and I’m thrilled to see the Pileated Woodpecker who so loves his privacy and rarely is seen. He also pecks rectangle holes, square shaped.
That’s odd.

The times are quiet. Peace has entered my life as I watch my children raise their children.
The very best times are when my kids are telling me about heir kids. This one or that one hasn’t done his homework, or hasn’t cleaned her room. I am absolutely dying in laughter on the inside and yet I remain still with great composure and say nothing……
Wanting to say, “yeah, well now you know how it feels”, or “didn’t I tell you this would happen” BUT I remain quiet and nudge along the conversation with slight confirmations that I’m listening.

My Son-

Last week was the best. My son came over and proceeded to tell me how he asked his teenage daughter to clean her room. Of course to her that meant slide everything under the bed and what’s left goes in the closet on the floor. Well, Dad (my son) use to try the same old trick and was caught time and time again. I pulled it all out from various locations and dumped it all in the center of the room and flatly state “Try Again”.

In his conclusion with his story, he said “I pulled it all out and dumped it in the center of the room and said try again” The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, eh?

My Daughter –

Well, she’s traveling through life with many of the same lessons and now be stilling them on her two boys.
Only difference is she now has the horses again. I always knew they were in her blood.

Both as adults –

It is my blessing to have the recognition and praise from them now as adults, that they liked their life and I’ve done a good job. One always wonders until they tell you themselves.

They now enjoy bringing their kids over to hang mittens by the wood stove to dry, to bring in some wood for fires, or pick flowers and blueberries in the warm weather.

They explain how I cook on wood fires in the winter on Maggie, my wood – gas combo cook stove. They explain why I needed to have four wheel drive vehicle to live where I do. My kids complained in their day but now miss the features of country life.

Sometimes they show up just to watch a snow storm from the farm!

I am blessed.
Always,
Jurn and Vinnie the Dog.

jurneez - the unconventional

Chapter One
Where exactly do I began? The beginning is too conventional. The beginning is only the beginning chronologically, not in reality. Maybe I'll start from here and go backwards as that's the truest form of expressing my lessons learned.
Lessons learned – where do they come from and why do we resist the lesson?
I hug trees. They know more than I do. I cry at beauty, it shows me more than I look to find.
At this stage in my life, I'm giving away the stones I've collected over the years. Pieces of great grand mothers collected items. Stones of various shapes and sizes, not really stones at all. Meanings and items that no longer hold emotion.
It is a good thing to transcend the corral of physicalness. Once you can say you're stepping outside the corral, you'll discover how much you've gained, by discarding the stones which are weight on our plane of attachments.

And slowly we start....dah dah dah dahhhhhh.....
“Entering what she says?”
“ Entering a world different than
you know.” (said the voice)
“Oh how wonderful, but will I miss the world I know?”
Said she....
and the voice says, "your world travels with you, you
make your world where ever you are, They (worlds) are
not a possession, they are a feeling”.....Said the
voice,
She wept as she heard truth.
Has this ever happened?....When you realize you put your own constraints/restraints on yourself.
Open up as many worlds as you want and travel with them all, once created, never dissipates.
Once energy, it doesn't fade away, it only gains more strength with every thought given to it. Our thoughts will create our environment, our reality, our personal world. Our souls have to gain awareness and experience to age. Oh yes, they age, but it's not that an old soul is better than a young soul. Yes, it has gained more experiences and thus possibly more wisdom but at the expense of losing spontaneity and the desire to break out of boxes.
Young souls with less experience have excitement in them but lack discipline. They look outward whereas older souls look inward. Older souls may be any physical age, did you ever look into a child's eyes and think he looks like a wise old man. Perhaps, exactly, he is a wise old soul.
Listen to your heart, hear it. Speak with your soul. Experience with understanding. Get outside, for the trees know more then we do. Touch one.
Jurneez and Vinnie the Dog