How many moves are worth a fire?

I cannot recall if Benjamin Franklin said it was 4 or 5, but I can say I feel like I've been through enough moves in the last 2+ years to have been through an emotional fire as well as having lost some belongings I would have preferred to still have. My son is supportively philosophical about it, and wise, "It's just stuff, Mom." He's right! As a Quaker, having fewer things helps me with my testimony of Simplicity. Biblically speaking, where one's treasure lies, there lies one's heart. I would hope that my heart does not lie in material possessions, though much of my heart was filled with my pets and my rescued dog fostering, and I can no longer do that work. However, I am still involved in rescue as background workers are always needed. And I do still have Katie, my Disability Service Dog. Ziva, my Service Dog in Training, will be joining me soon. Having grown up in a military family (though the Coast Guard doesn't move its families as often as the other branches of the service do), one would think I'd be used to the weeding out that goes along with relocation.

Definitely NOT on the road anymore

I'm still reverberating from the hospital and the move and the loss of my canine family and country living. Too fried still to write, but did make it to most of Holler Poet Series #38 which was a grand time. Nice to see poetry so appreciated by the masses!!!

There is nothing so constant as change

I am now living in Lexington, and am sick and tired of feeling like a nomad.

Many losses in the last month. I thought I'd found THE place for me, loved my neighbors, could have my dogs and do rescue, could have a garden (kind of -- since the only 2 places I was told I could use were either on a steep slope or in the shade, so I opted for the level shady place), but the griping and control dramas finally put me in overload. NO ONE should tolerate bullying, and if you think only kids get bullied, think again. It could have been a "win/win" situation. Ah well . . . more of life's lessons learned.

So, now the country mouse must become a city mouse. Big adjustment. Hope to have kale and lettuces growing on my balcony soon, and already have a community garden plot reserved for next summer. I intend to bloom where I've been planted.

On to the next chapter of my life. And I do NOT want to be "on the road" any more. No more nomadic existence for this girl. I need to STAY PUT.

A new koan for your contemplation

How can someone run a restaurant if they do not know upon which side their bread was buttered?

The BAAAAAAD Tenant

Someone I known on Facebook is griping about their landlord (for their business) for NOT fixing things, and this same person and spouse are griping at me, their residential tenant, FOR taking care of the property and the two horses TOO well -- at no expense or hindrance to them, mind you. In fact, I have saved them money and improved the value of their property.

No, I'm not kidding. No I'm not misunderstanding. However, I am amazed, astounded and yes, even appalled.

First, why would any reasonable, logical and HUMANE person object to having their horses cared for well? I don't get it, but yes, indeed there you have it. How dare I care about the two horses that I am legally supposed to care for in exchange for $25 a month off on my rent (though I pay for their water)? First thing I did when I moved here was to get all the boards with nails in them out of the horse pasture where the owners had tossed the boards with nails in them.

Heaven forbid that I should even HOPE that the local feed store carry fly-wipes which would make the horses more comfortable! The local feed store does NOT carry them. WHEW! I'm saved from making THAT horrific error. Oh yes, I was definitely chastised for even wanting to buy the fly-wipes. Gosh, let's just let the horses be miserable! And these are "rescued" horses, no less. Rescued from what? Poor nutrition and insects?

Secondly, do they know how hard it is to get a good tenant?

I had been told multiple times prior to moving in that I could do anything I wanted to improve the property, since nothing I could do could make it worse. True! They had utterly trashed it. They admit it and the neighbors are all witnesses. They had utterly trashed the property, inside and out. I tell no tales, carry no lies.

So, silly me, I was finally able to get YEARS worth of horse manure out of the barn -- and I had already asked and they said they didn't want the manure, so that was not the problem. No, I was chewed out for "obstructing their access to the barn" by removing the manure. HUH? HOW? No access was obstructed. And how would they know? They hadn't been out here in weeks! Actually, while the front loader was being used to scrape the manure out, they would have had GREATER access to the barn, as we had to have the main barn door open. Go figure!

And suddenly, out of the blue, due to my cleaning the barn (so that now when it rains the horses are no longer standing hock deep in wet manure), I am to be sure of seeking their permission for any further projects. A complete 180 from what I'd been told multiple times previously.

Mind you, I've done so much work on the yard, people I don't even know have stopped to thank me for cleaning the place up. This is not an exaggeration.

And yet, there is still a tarp on the side of the house over the gaping hole from the storm damage this spring. The owners got the insurance money and spent it, but the house has gone unrepaired. Hmmmmmm This could make winter rather interesting.

But I'm obviously a BAAAAD tenant. BAD GIRL! Go to your room! Whatever you do, do not take care of the place you are renting. You are a baaaaaad tenant. ;-)

Another koan

If the solid waste from uncastrated male cattle has a molecular structure, how is it we can see right through it when people dish it out to us?

Koan

Why would the master want the horses to be standing in old manure up to their hocks?


(If there's an answer to this, I haven't found it yet. I'm still trying to figure out why I got chewed out for cleaning years and years worth of manure that no one wanted out of the barn. If I'm paid $25 a month to care for the horses, I'd think that would include providing clean housing for them. Obviously, I was wrong. Silly me!)