Synchronicity

Veterans Day is to thank those living who have served in our armed forces.  Memorial Day is to remember those who served and were sacrificed.  Thoughts along those lines were going through my head in the barn yesterday.  Standing in the doorway, waiting for the next goat to amble down the hill for her turn on the stand, I was suddenly struck by the silence...total, absolute silence.  It is often quiet here, but there are always some ambient sounds.  No cock crowed, no bird chirped in a tree nor screeched in the sky, no car, truck, or tractor engine echoed through the hills.  It was as if Nature herself was in tune with my thoughts, taking a moment of silence to honor those who rest on her bosom or under her seas.  I think Nature does not discriminate or take sides; she shelters all patriots, all nationalities.  She is our final guardian.

Totally out of sync are these strawberries.  The dead leaves from the recent frosts have not yet been removed, and storm clouds were amassing over the hills even as I took the picture.  Strawberries are a summer fruit!  Rain spattered the windshield as I left for a barbecue at my friends' ranch in Mt. Aukum.  This did not bode well, but Nature favored them with sunshine alternating with passing clouds (but no rain) for a delightful day.  Everyone up here knows about the fabulous Lockford sausages, and we were treated to basil and garlic, Hawaiian, and oh-so-good Portuguese linquica.  A one-man band (harmonica and guitar) played and sang cowboy songs from my past:  Bob Wills, Hank Williams Sr., Patsy Cline.  I had the opportunity to "talk goat" with other breeders; castration, mastitis, etc., not everyone's favorite topics of conversation.  I hit rain again on the way home and could tell from the standing water that it had rained in Fair Play most of the day.  I had not planned to light a fire again this year, but when I found myself shivering after putting the kids to bed, I weakened and brought in another load of wood...totally out of sync.