Balance

"Because we all share this planet Earth, we have to learn to live in harmony and peace with each other and with nature.  This is not a Dream, but a necessity."  Dalai Lama.  We all need to be in sync with the Earth and attuned to each other, so we can live a life of balance, order, rhythm, and harmony.  I think to be able to balance with others and with nature, first we, ourselves need to be in balance.  By ourselves, I mean our bodies, the physical, spiritual, and mental.  Part of the key to keeping our balance, is knowing when we have lost it.  "Balance in life, like in body, is not a given.  We need to work for it."  Author unknown 

Saturday I spent a great deal of time watering the new grass and seed while Maggie kept watch up on the deck.  Joe came out a little later to join her and they both laid in the sun.

I have no idea what I did until 2:30, but at that point, I went to the barn to help with the haunted trail (Avalon Center's half mile of horror).  They were just finishing up for the day but needed shovels, which I would bring Sunday.

I decided to take Amiga for a short ride to see how she felt.  As usual, Zorro followed us back to the barn, but I didn't take time to bring him in and remove cockle burs. 

Amiga's hormonal imbalance was much better, as was her disposition.  This lead me to believe that she was no longer in heat.  (I didn't mention this last week, but she had swollen mammary glands several days and was actually leaking milk one day.)  I will have to ask the vet about the mammary glands.




Starting out, Amiga didn't favor her right front leg, but after turning to head back to the barn, she picked up the pace and seemed to be limping on that leg.  Ugh.  Above, the old stumps in the pond are really sticking out because the water is so low.  Seen right, I rode to the ghost town to check out the day's work on the haunted trail.
 



I ain't afraid of no ghosts.  This gauntlet of hanging scary stuff didn't seem to worry Amiga too much.  I focused on my balance so as to stay in the saddle, if Amiga jumped or spun.  But Amiga just gave things a curious look.  What a good girl.





As I left Wildwood Stables, I took this photo of the wagon ride, with the horses coming over and eating grain from people's hands.

Joe was sick so we decided to not attend the St. George end of season party.  I watered till dark and then fixed a late dinner.  If only we could balance the location of the amount of rainfall around the world, we could alleviate flooding and droughts. 

Sunday we had four, early morning deer visitors.  The photo on the right shows one doe going into the pond.

I did my morning watering after Church and then Joe helped me move this concrete lamp.  Allen gave it to me almost three years ago when I commented about it in the wooded lot next to his house.  It looked abandoned at the time.  This structure is in three parts, but the top and bottom are too heavy for me to lift by myself.  Once moved into place, I got them lined up and in balance with each other.  Hopefully this lawn decoration balances with the plantings in this garden.

At 12:30 I left for the barn and Joe left for a Senior Poker tournament in Kentucky.  I helped with the Haunted Trail, stuffing newspaper into shirts and pants (seen right) then wrapping bodies into 'body bags' with red spray paint for blood effects.







Seen left, most of the work crew getting the bodies hung to add to the gauntlet.  The weight of all the new hangings made it a bit difficult to get them strung up high enough.




I got home at 4:30 and took Maggie out into Fairfield Glade, near Lake Pomeroy, to continue my walk of all the roads.  This section of woods was mostly Alder trees, which lose their leaves early, so really looked bare.

Maggie back in the car where I parked, and ready to head home.  Notice this section of woods still had plenty of leaves and was more colorful.  When I got home, I watered till 7pm (after dark), then had leftovers and watched Fixer Upper.  Reading in bed lasted about one minute, not even one page of my book since I had to keep re-reading because I was nodding off.


Monday I didn't get up til late, and even with all the sleep, I felt really lazy.  Stevie likes to run and play on the balcony railing.  Good thing she has great balance, it would be a 15 foot fall into the livingroom.








I took these photos of the pond during a mid morning walk with the dog.  I wanted to show how low the water level is and all the vegetation growing where water used to be.



The black part of this 'cliff' rock (best seen below) is usually above water, but the lower, lighter, yellower part has always been under water, until this summer's drought.  I would say the water level is at least two feet lower than usual.



Maggie catches her balance as she looks out over the ledge at the fish in the water below.


 

I finally got out of my chair and productive just before noon.  I never left home to work-out, go on a long walk, go to the barn, or go anywhere else.  But I did spend the afternoon outside working in the yard.  I know I need more regular exercise and a better balanced diet.  This would renew my energy, and probably help drop a pound or two that seems to have accumulated around my waistline.

I fertilized potted plants and new plantings, and then watered grass and seed.  Look how nicely it is greening up on both sides of the drainage ditch (left photo).  I am still waiting for the newest seed to germinate (dark soil in right photo). 

My physical labor involved working at clearing this area, seen left and below, to be mulched.  It will save Joe from having to mow around all the trees and shrubs.  You can also see the little path for the deer and I, that I will mulch too.



Staying true to form for the day, I had beer and popcorn for dinner and was a couch potato (watching another episode of Fixer Upper) till bed time.

Tuesday morning was the usual pet rough housing while I sat here.  Play (with kids or pets) can sometimes lead to a fight.  There is a fine balance during play, to keep things gentle enough to not cause a fight, but rough enough to have fun.  I don't worry about Stevie hurting the dog when she gets rough, but I have to remind Maggie to be gentle to assure she does not hurt the cat.














Today's yard work was mostly down at the pond.  I decided that since it is so low, now is the time to do more dirt removal, so that when the rains do come, and water starts to flow and the pond fills up, the creek will be more likely to stay in its bank and there will be more 'water front' at the bottom of the hill where we look out from the house. (boy, was that a run on sentence?)

So, I widened all the trenches and removed a lot more cattail making a better path for water flow and giving more visual of the water in the pond.  I shoveled all the dirt up into the existing vegetation to help hold it in when the water does rise.  Who knows, a lot of the soil may run back into the ditch I dug.  We'll see.  If only we would get rain to test this.






Joe arrived home late afternoon.  He had gotten knocked out of the tournament early, but redeemed himself at the open tables.  He fixed pizza for dinner and I took a much needed break to join him.  I went back out to water grass till well past dark and then we both went to the CC from 7:20 to 8:15 to enjoy hot tub, sauna, and shower.  It helped his chest cold and my sore back, arms and legs.  I had enjoyed a beer in my sippy cup while sitting in the hot tub, and was so relaxed when I got home, I went right to bed, even though my hair was still damp.

By 10 am Wednesday I was in town shopping at Lowe's.  I came home with more garden soil, several shrubs, and a Redbud tree (towards middle of left photo).  The remainder of my day was spend digging holes, moving dirt, mixing a good balance of peat, garden soil and dirt, hauling pond muck, and planting all of my purchases.







The embankment on the down hill side of each planting was made from pond muck and newly dug up dirt.  These were built to hold the water in around each bush.  I decided I needed a few more plants to balance out my bed, and I had run out of peat moss and garden soil.  But it was time to quit digging around and get everything, including the new lawn, watered.

Joe was at his weekly card game so I made a dinner more to suit my diet (black beans, brown rice, onions, corn, broccoli and carrots).
 
Thursday was an early trip to the barn to meet with the Farrier for Amiga and Zorro.  Tom did not notice any hoof problems with either of them, although Amiga was quite long in the front of her hooves, which does change her balance.  He also thought she was a tad uncomfortable while he lifted her front right and back left legs to work on those hooves.  But there was no obvious reason for the lameness.  Amiga actually looked good when she trotted off after I turned her back out in the pasture.  I went to town to pick up some more shrubs at Lowe's.  I also bought a Rose of Sharon bush (impulse buy) because it was going to be so pretty, was half price and needed a good home.  A quick in and out at Wal-Mart and I got home in time for a late lunch.

Then I set to work digging more holes, moving more muck up from the pond, and planting several more little shrubs.  I have actually continued widening the opening of the pond itself, where the creek runs into it.
 








I had to hurry to get everything watered, tools and myself cleaned up, and cooler packed to head to Mirror Lake for Movie night.  We took Maggie with us and met Shirley there.  Joe had two hot dogs and Shirley and I had Fritto-Ban-Dittos for dinner.  Very yummy.

Snoopy is my favorite, seen below in "Charlie Brown and the Great Pumpkin"  The second movie, "Hocus Pocus" was hilarious, and a little scary.

Joe had noticed smoggy skies (because of a fire set on Catoosa WMA, just north of FFG) while golfing at the Brae earlier in the day.  We could still see it at Mirror Lake, which enhanced the sunset.  Our E-blast said this was "NOT part of any control burn.  TWRA assured us that they have fire breaks in place and the fire is contained." 

Friday was to be another day working in the yard.  I wanted to finish all my plantings and get grass seed sowed around the new bed.  First I transplanted this Blue Pacific Shore Juniper from out front next to the sidewalk.









It had out grown its old location but looks great here (seen right) and has room to grow.


Then I planted this new compact Holly by the sidewalk, in the hole from the juniper.  Now the phlox on each side of it is no longer covered up by the juniper, and can get light and be seen again.





While clearing the path more, seen below, and preparing around the new bed for grass seed, I moved some moss to the crack between these two rocks, seen right.














This new bed is basically done, except I am waiting on a mulch delivery to finish it off.  I also got all the grass sewed around it and in the bare spots in the back yard. 


Seen below, is a comparison of a before and after photo of this newest bed. 

Here is a look at my progress by the end of the day / week. 

Well, my week was not well balanced, too much yard work and computer time... little house work and walking.  I never made it to the gym and only rode once.  There was no dancing but a good amount of TV and movie time.  Food intake could have been better, but you got to balance the good with some bad / hot with cold / rain with shine / day with night.

When our World, our America, our towns and cities, our neighborhoods, our homes, and/or our bodies are out of balance, there is great chaos.  Sometimes it is best to just go dig in the dirt, stack some rocks, or go for a woodland walk along a creek.