The winds have been here all day - and since we don't have any outstanding forest fires in the area, I can say they are welcome, blowing the warm air around feathers, hay strands, and a farmer's braids.
I went to the barnyard to see if there were any worthy photo opportunities, but ended up sitting with the ducks and chickens and a smattering of goats around the makeshift compost hay pile - which doubles as a bed for pig, goat and fowl. I had planned to move it to the 'real' compost area, but the animals enjoy the warmth that emanates from it so much, I keep putting it off. First threat of rain and I'll scramble to move it.
The wind and warmth combined with crisp, fallen leaves and the ripe scent of grapes and unpicked blackberries always takes me back to being in one of our childhood homes - my favorite childhood home - a small 5 acre parcel cut out of a larger country estate. There I had a myriad of paths into forests - or forests to me, they were more or less groves of sumac - where I could retreat and explore on my own clock. I can still feel that place and I remember the smell of the small cottage as it was the day we moved in - a combination of outside air mixed with vintage linoleum counters. It was the beginning of Apifera in some ways - there were white dilapidated pasture fences, old barns and horses in the distance, ducks and geese graced the nearby pond. I had space there.
So I sat on the concrete with the fowl today, on my own clock. I wasn't making any money doing it - just like I wasn't earning a dime as that five year old back on my old homeland - but I was deep in feeling.
