After all, time is not money. It is an opportunity to live before you die. Donald Culross Peattie

 

On the nine hour drive from Calgary to Central Saskatchewan on Dec. 29th we saw almost no snow. The fields were mostly bare the entire way. Given that we had watering restrictions right up to Nov. in Calgary and only two small snowfalls in Calgary from mid Oct to Christmas it has been an incredibly dry fall and winter. The bit snow at the farm is way below average and the temperatures unseasonably warm.

 

The pages above are from A Book Of Hours by Donald Culross Peattie, 

Decorations by Land Ward, 1937. The book was a Christmas gift from my brother. 

At the farm Christmas 2023

                                                     

"When the great wind comes

and the robberies of the rain

you stand on the corner shivering.

The people who go by—

you wonder at their calm.

They miss the whisper that runs

any day in your mind,

“Who are you really, wanderer?”—

and the answer you have to give

no matter how dark and cold

the world around you is:

“Maybe I’m a king.”"

from A Story That Could Be True

by William Stafford

https://poetry.princeton.edu/2010/01/05/a-story-that-could-be-true/

Willow Two passed Nov. 20

 

We lost the farm dog Willow Two in Nov. Although unrelated, she looked

a lot like the original Willow shown in the blog banner. She was the sweetest 

of dogs and beloved by the whole family. She has a friend to foxes and a

terror to snakes. She liked to excavate a hole  at the bottom of the side 

steps to use for naps. And she loved snacks.

She was a good dog.

"Because of the dog's joyfulness, our own is increased. It is no small gift.

 It is not the least reason why we should honor as love the dog of our own life, 

and the dog down the street, and all the dogs not yet born."

Mary Oliver

I am having trouble with my external drive and was limited

 in the number of photos I can access.

Musings and nostalgia

 

"So you speak to me of sadness

And the coming of the winter

Fear that is within you now

It seems to never end

And the dreams that have escaped you

And the hope that you've forgotten

You tell me that you need me now

You want to be my friend

And you wonder where we're going

Where's the rhyme and where's the reason

And it's you cannot accept

It is here we must begin

To seek the wisdom of the children

And the graceful way of flowers in the wind"

Rhymes and Reasons 

John Denver

I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree,

And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made;

Nine bean-rows will I have there, a hive for the honey-bee,

And live alone in the bee-loud glade.

The Lake Isle of Innisfree

Jaime Royal "Robbie" Robertson[1] OC (July 5, 1943 – August 9, 2023) Sixto Diaz Rodriguez (July 10, 1942 – August 8, 2023) I felt these.

Last night in bed while listening to their music I read these words. RIP fellows.

"Let seed be grass, and grass turn into hay:

I'm a martyr to a motion not my own:

what's freedom for? To know eternity.

from I Knew a Woman

Theodore Roethke

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/aug/10/robbie-robertson-obituary

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/aug/10/rodriguez-obituary

 

Howler Monkey Belize Trip Nov./Dec. 2022

 

"Then the Earth grew old, its landscapes mellowing and showing signs of age, its ways becoming whimsical and strange in the manner of a man in his last years..." 

The High History of the Runestaff