Wednesday, May 21, 2014

Meditation


 I like a lot of alone time. I like to work alone, I like to be in my car alone, I like doing things alone. I suppose that comes from being an only child and living in my own little world for so many years.
Don't get me wrong, I do like being with people as well. I like being with friends and family, but I crave aloneness. So does Wesley and lucky for me I live with people that understand this about me.
I guess, in a way, it is my own form of meditation.

There are some things you just can't do alone though. In between doing the play, moving Wesley back home, Gerry shooting Nascar and coping with new baby chicks in the house, the three of us managed to build a chicken coop together. This was a monumental task, considering that my carpentry skills are minimal at best, I can build theater stuff, but I have never built anything that had to stand for very long.
And as Gerry repeated over and over in the days that we built this, "I shoot pictures for a living".
There was a fair amount of swearing, but we didn't fight, which was a proper achievement, and Wesley pitched in to help, which rarely happens. So all in all, I would say the chicken coop construction was a big success. It is sturdy, it is almost level, just a hair off, and it will keep the chicks safe and dry once they are ready to move in. We measured wrong and it is about a foot too tall, but that's ok, I can live with it. We chose not to do the egg box thing, because our skills are limited and that would have been a challenge, and I was sort of over being challenged after putting the coop door on by myself. I have some old apple crates and we will use those until we see if they really want to have a box to lay eggs in.
The coop is roomy and cozy, they should be fine with popping eggs out in there. I only have one concern and that is predators. We have a fox that screams in the night several times a week and I know he is going to be the first visitor. I am planning to just put them up for the night inside the coop and hope we have made it snug enough that unwanted visitors can't get in. I like the look of chicken wire, although I understand it can be chewed through. We'll see how this goes..... so many things want to eat chickens, poor things!


I think the coop is just perfect, and I am proud of the three of us for taking this on and gittin er done. Wes and I picked up the quilt painting at a roadside farm stand the other day in Pittsboro. We were passing by after breakfast and Wesley spotted them. $10 for this one, I love it. The star was made from tobacco sticks, I got it at the Liberty Antiques Festival before I even knew I was going to have chicks. Because I have a design background and a maddening aesthetic, I planned the colors around having black, white and red hens. Don't you think the yellow of the door and the white of the coop will accent them nicely? I know...... but still......


We postponed the hanging of the door until the last thing, because our last door hanging project on my studio was a complicated effort. I seem to have hinge dyslexia, I can't for the life of me understand how a hinge goes on. This went really well though, the door fits perfectly and was on in a matter of minutes. What was wrong with us last time I wonder?!


The chicks are growing so fast. They are really funny to watch and their little personalities are becoming more apparent each day. We take them out for awhile every day for some worm consumption, they slurp them up like spaghetti noodles. So ick!


They like to pretend I am a tree and they roost on me. That is paint not poop on my shirt, by the way :)


Wesley talked me into going to the Won Buddhism temple for meditation last Sunday. I have only meditated with the monks for a very short time and getting me to be still for an hour seemed nearly impossible. I was almost able to sit through the hour meditation, my leg fell asleep at one point and I got preoccupied with that, then a man started snoring and I got preoccupied at the wonder of someone being able to sleep while a group of people sat all around him meditating, was he really that tired or so comfortable with all of us and his environment that he just had a peaceful rest? I also spent some time thinking about the bathroom there and how beautiful it was and how I really like it when there are nice smells around me and beautiful objects to look at. I started thinking about soap making again, and aromatherapy, and, and, and...... still mind? nope....
Wesley had a pretty intense experience with her meditation and Laura who went with us, seemed to benefit from the stillness, but I don't think I did it right. My mind was racing a million miles a minute like it always does. I was just still in body only, unlike most of the day when I am in constant motion, mind and body. I suppose meditation will be good for me, I don't have stress, but I do have the can't sit stills.

It is a lovely place and I really enjoyed the experience, but I still have suspicions about organized religions, even Buddhism. I always feel like I am in a brain washing session. I know, shame on me, but I have had many years of run ins with church stuff. I might just have to meditate with the chickens and leave it with that!

12 comments:

oldgreymareprimitives said...

I am impressed! and also worried about fox..Are rocks around the base to prevent him tunneling under?
Isn't that PA dutch hex sign? My dad collected those and we had them everywhere. That is how i ended up with Z in my name. PA dutch spelling says he...

Laura Farrow said...

awww, i want to take up residence in the chicken coop too! so cute. they're growing! xo

Dennis Allen said...

Looks like it will work fine. I couldn't quite see and you have probably done it already but make sure everything is well sealed including around where the rafters join the walls.The fox won't get in there but raccoons will.My neighbor lost a bunch that way one night. Have fun with them.

cookingwithgas said...

nice coop they should be happy there. I learned that any thing you raise can be eaten by something else. Ugh. I can't even watch animal kingdom.

Michèle Hastings said...

The chickens and coop are fabulous! When I was raising chickens I lost quite a few to raccoons and lost a turkey to a neighborhood dog that was running loose. We solved the predator problem by putting a door on the coop and training the chickens to go inside at dusk each night. I would then go out and shut the door and latch it. First thing in the morning I would let them out into their pen. Sort of a hassle but it did end the raccoon carnage.

Tracey Broome said...

Hey ya'll, yep Im worried about the eating thing too! Our next door neighbor lost lots of chickens until they trained them, as you said, Michelle, to go in the coop at night. Eat or be eaten I guess, haha!
Suzan, I think it is a hex sign, I really like seeing them on barns around here.

littlemancat said...

Love the coop - nice work! The chicks are really growing - hope they are all hens.
I understand what you mean about having trouble concentrating while in meditation. Been there. Also I remember a class in Reiki where everyone else - supposedly -was feeling it. Not me, although I was trying! Ha,ha! Something about "large group activities"...
Mary

Tracey Broome said...

Mary, yes.... The large group thing! I think that was the problem I'm a people watcher!
Gerry assures me these are hens, hope he is right, we had a rooster next door that crowed 24/7, notice I said "had"

Michèle Hastings said...

Tracey, your comment about being distracted in a large group and being a people watcher, reminded me of something. At the graveside service for my mother's burial, I didn't hear a word of what the priest said because I was too engrossed in watching a bug crawl up his pant leg and up under his jacket. I later found out that my brother and Dad were watching it too! I obviously never did very well in church either.

Tracey Broome said...

Michele, I just laughed out loud reading this! I totally understand :-)
Gerry's dad was a preacher and Gerry used to sit in church on Sunday, pick lint from his socks and blow it into the little old ladies hairdos, bet he never heard a word the preacher said either!

Anonymous said...

I can only sit still with stitching in my hands. Very impressive coop! I laugh because of K's & my lack of skills for this kind of thing. Both of our moms can garden, both dads can build and fix things- but neither of us can do either.

just jody said...

Awesome job…..LOVE the yellow door!