Despite the heavy snow cover and months of cold weather they are fat and look healthy. We are only about two blocks from grazing land, and I suspect they pick up their share of the hay that ranchers are throwing out for their cattle right now.
A few nights ago I trimmed up some steaks I'd bought to put in the freezer and had a good-sized bowlful of trimmings left over. I put them out on the edge of the deck about 11:00 pm for the magpies who have a nest in one of the pines in the backyard. They'll soon be thinking about nesting. They begin making any needed repairs to their nest in early March and egg-laying soon follows. They're sharp-eyed. When we got up the next morning the trimmings were all gone. Lots of people don't like magpies, but I have a very soft spot for them after raising one from "chickhood" to adulthood. They are exceptionally intelligent and affectionate.
We drove into Calgary this morning for a medical appointment, and along the way passed a herd of cows with young calves, from a day or two to a couple of weeks old. Many were snuggled into a generous layer of straw bedding laid on top of the snow, sleeping in the sun, but one was bouncing around and kicking his heels up, the very picture of energy and the joy of life.
Bit by bit we're settling into our new home and new life. Nothing moves at a quick pace, there's time to think and plan and simply linger in that deep well of calm, whether it's slowly savouring our morning coffee, making the bed, watching the flames in the fireplace on cold nights or just listening to the silence.
When the mind is at peace
The world too is at peace.
Nothing real, nothing absent.
Not holding on to reality,
Not getting stuck in the void,
You are neither holy or wise, just
An ordinary fellow who has completed his work.
~Layman P'ang
We too are settling into our new home and new life and I'm Thankful we got settled in just before Pandemic Hell hit. There is a Calmness and Peace here that we lacked at the previous residence, the Community here has a deeper Sense of being a Community. The Home we Sold was a Luxury Home and yet, the Affluent Community there was Poor in so many ways that had nothing to do with Money. Having come from a Historic Home nestled in a Poor Community before moving there, we had a deeper sense of what we Valued above Money and things. I'm glad to have returned to it... even only 4.5 Years away from it had been too long and was too much to endure. Indeed, when the Mind is at Pace the World too is at Peace.
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