I love listening to the rain, especially with the sound of crackling burning wood on the background. Finally we had some! Two weeks ago it rained three days in a row. And last Saturday a full good day of rain which is currently unique here, as it never rains the whole day like we know in the Netherlands.
We really needed this rain as it has never been so dry in the times I live here. Wells, lakes, wetlands, reservoirs, soil, they all benefited from this rain. But we need more before the summer starts!
There’s already a change in the air: spring has arrived. Trees are sprouting, flowers are no longer tight in a bud.
My time alone is over. Dorus came home last week after 9 weeks being by myself. So good to have him back now. The months alone weren’t bad. I could pen (still unpublished) pages about simple, slow living as I planned to do within this timeframe, although I wanted to have written more, like I always do.
Last week a new chicken drama happened on our fincita. Our sweet black hen Droppy disappeared suddenly after I heard the two roosters sounded the alarm. I always go to have a look when they do that, but this time I was in the middle of something and didn’t go to check them immediately. When I saw later both roosters sitting on the wall and the hens both gone I knew something was wrong. The mother hen Sammie luckily appeared, but not Drop. Next morning she still didn’t show up and now she seems forever gone.
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A few days later one of the roosters, Peppi, disappeared too and when I searched between the higo chambu trees I found a thick bunch of feathers. I picked them up and yes they are definitely the feathers of Peppi. I felt so sad. Now we only have one hen Sammie and one rooster Kokki. In the morning all four used to run to the gate as soon as I arrived to feed them. Now it’s only the two of them and this new couple seems a bit lost after what happened. Or maybe, I’m projecting my feelings on them.
I miss these two.
What could have happened? We have a theory that Drop was taken by a bird of prey and that the other day it came back to grab Sammie and that Peppi did his duty, protecting her, but had to pay with his life. But we didn’t hear anything, no sounds, no screams. No blood marks.
Anyway, it has made me sad, they were so cute all together….
During my alone time I started to practice gratefulness more consciously. I wrote down that which makes me thankful in this life. As a remedy to a cold world, although where I am, I am not experiencing the world as cold, but I know some people today feel that way.
People who are living in war zones, being more dead than alive. People who feel alone without being supported and carried by others. Women, men and children who aren’t safe in this world, because they are blamed by groups of people for a war thousands of miles away which they didn’t began.
I can’t help but think about all these people. And every time I feel helpless I go to the garden. The garden which is full of life remembers me I am alive and to be alive. Therefore I’m thankful for this garden.
She gives me food, health and a peaceful mind. A little while ago I came across these lines somewhere:
“Everything that slows us down and forces patience, everything that sets us back into the slow circles of nature, is a help.”
The miracles of nature. Isn’t it all magic?
Con Amor,
Eva
☆evalunes 