240720 vineyard

We have returned to the vineyard at last. Rocky is content. He can wander about without a collar, and visit his friend Blackie when he likes. He has been lying on the grass, often in the sun, for hours on end. He likes the porch too, lies near me while I sit at my desk.

Fox was eager to get reacquainted with Rocky. First thing they did was run off together to see the witches.

It looks like the rain is over. We received 70 mm on our hill. I hear that Toronto got about 100 mm. Monday night we had thunderstorm and rain through the night. Rocky does not like a storm and crept up beside me on the pillow for much of the night. Last night I drugged him, so that he'd settle through the night. He has bad anxiety in Toronto, and then he began having pain in April, so he has trazodone and gabapentin scripts. He's been getting a shot for pain, and after K came home he stopped needing the anxiety meds., but I needed to sleep. 

The foliage growth is not so evident here (I remarked that it was a jungle in Etobicoke with all the rain), but the maple trees at the top of the meadow are becoming part of the forest. The lower meadow is filling in with trees and near the house many saplings have become trees since 2020. Before the place was sold, the owners kept the meadow clear but no one is doing that now. The trails in the forest, which were maintained until six or eight years ago as well, will be lost in another few years. I have found and walked older trails and I see what happens to them. Trees fall, saplings take root in the middle of the way, and then they are gone. 

We have begun a better diet already, more whole foods, more vegetables, less meat. It is easier here, with fewer choices, circumscribed shopping. Having our own kitchen helps, and the habits formed here of healthy food. We enjoyed an omelette with lobster mushrooms, yesterday. There is only one patch of them here, that I know of, and I gathered them all, only four, but they come back every year. (Already showing.) The omelette was nice, but the mushroom harvest hereabouts is sparse, and I don't think it worthwhile to pick the few I usually see. This was a one-off. 

These are the size of small apples.

I have also begun to do time-restricted eating. I eat only between eleven and seven. I hope to reduce that to a six hour window. There is a theory to this practice, that it gives the digestive system a rest. I do not know the medical background which suggests that this is helpful, or necessary. I do find that I have a lot of energy and will in the mornings, until I eat. Then I am at a lower level of both for the rest of the day, so I put off eating for most of the morning. It runs against front-loading calories, which I can't help thinking is a good thing, like eating breakfast before work or school, as it gives you calories and nutrients which you otherwise must gather from stores in the body. But something is at work here, so I will go with it for a while. It helps as well with mindful diet choices. 

I am having difficulty adjusting to being here. The joy I should feel is tempered by worry and lingering depression. There is a lot to do, here and at #48, in Etobicoke. We have been here a week and I can only now see the sky and the Vermont hills with any peace of mind...

BTW: Goldfinch. Should be lemonfinch! We see lots of them hereabouts, but they are not gold coloured!

I have had, just this morning, an epiphany of sorts. I see that there is an imperative to live life as a philosophical observance of the privilege of existence, by living it to the best of your ability. A bit late in my day to be realizing this, but I can begin now. I must get out of my head with its ambivalence about my condition, my frustrations, anger, self-pity, and just do. This is part of the purpose of mindfulness, zen, being present, I am sure.

I was busy until 3 o'clock. I have found spoons, got things done: a salad for supper, since I already have a curry chicken salad for  the main, lots of tidying, garbage to the bins, a town run to the pharmacy, un-used medicines for disposal. I went by Rain's farm for some berries, and some flowers for the hummingbird (s). Fox showed me the berry patches, had his own container for gathering but he ate most if them, a la Blueberries for Sal. *

Apropos of nothing: ID as is identification papers, id as in 

Freud's id. Freud was certainly thoroughly his id. What was his childhood, that his theories are so sexual and misogynistic? 

Alien spaceship clouds:

This morning the dragon was swimming in the clouds that flooded the valley in the night.

This is "going to press" a few days late because I had a few days of doing nothing, almost absolutely nothing! Oh well, I am back in the saddle today, so here goes. Thank you for visiting. Be well. 

Mumma Yaga

Robert McCloskey, Blueberries for Sal, 1948.