Thursday, March 12, 2009

March Roars In

March came roaring in like a lion last night. I lay in bed listeneing to the roar. I could hear trees crackle and barn doors creak in the fierce wind and thought about all the animals out in the barn listeneing. It must seem even louder to them. There is a certain comfort in knowing they have warm dry stalls and hay to eat, buckets of water and a roof over their head. We should all be so fortunate. The economic crisis will lead to more and more animals being left abandoned or malnourished. I dont know who will take in these refugees of hard times. The animals are innocent victims and have no voice.
Today the storytellers email list is writing about lay offs on Sesame Street and while the fact is behind the scenes workers will get the axe, it is the tongue in cheek comments about Oscar, Kermit and Elmo that are keeping us laughing, laughter hiding the fear it could be one of our jobs next. Where are people going to turn as times get harder. I fear the Yellow Brick Road has many scary detours and we all have that journey to make. Let's remember while we go down the road others are in a worse place and we have to do what we can to ease the burden. Take in the animal temporarily, give up small luxeries, grow the Victory garden, tighten the belts and all the while remember to share laughter. So if you see Kermit on the side of the road thumbing or holding the "will work for flies" sign, pick him up please. If you open the waste bin and find Oscar in residence understand he lived in the high rent district and your bin is downsizing for him. Please give Elmo a place to rest, he has worked tirelessly to make people laugh and it is a grim task ahead to be tickled a million times in order to turn the National Frown upside down!

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

There Shall Be Mud

Why on earth after creating heaven and earth did mud ever get created. Is mud the after thought or uncalculated by product? I beleive that it was made to humor someone with good boots! They were certainly there watching the day the mud sucked the boot from my foot and left me windmilling my arms at the gate. Prayer was never so dedicated as that moment when I truly did not want to fall face first in the mud manure combination. Oh I know kids on the school bus and commuters got the laugh of the day when passing by.
There is a certain percentage of the population that revel in mud. We have several horses that fall into that category and love the earth to body transfer of mud and then the grooming that follows to send the mud to earth again. All this to only dash to the next mud puddle in the morning and recoat themselves in glorious oozing dripping MUD!
New England traditionaly celebrates and glories in its four seasons marketing each one to tourists from a different view point. I have never seen marketing of mud season! It is not written up in Yankee Magazine there are no glossy inserts in a Sunday paper luring you to New England in Mud Season. It is like the family secret, the never spoken of. I am here to tell you Mud season does exhist and we are in the middle of it. I used to have a pair of white sneakers they succumbed to mud season 09 today. I have lost more than one shoe to a mud season and the black bottom on some socks comes from an invasion of shoes to a degree where the Clorox companies research hasnt dared to follow. I like new socks in May!
Where do earth worms evacuate to in Mud Season. It is the equivalent to a hurricane Katrina and the devastation to the worm community is intense. Where once tunnels and mounds occupied the ground now a brown foul swill has oozed into place. I pity them their exhistance in a mud filled world. There is enough soap and dry socks for me to escape for a few hours each day to a dry clean place. Mud free living, it could be a good cover story for Country Living Magazine. That magazine has never quite understood the heartbeat of real country. Well a fair wind blows and the mud would dry, but the forcast is for rain and mud season has just begun its hijinks for 2009. I have yet to lose a shoe or boot, I havent fallen although I pulled a few muscles I forgot I had in avoiding that event today. There has not been a large mud track in the kitchen when someone fresh from mudville made an emergency trip into the house. So far the dog the mud and the couch have not been reunited, a success story in a baby gate.
Pack your bags it is not to late to miss New England in Mud Season, you too can enjoy the age old tradition of slip sliding across the barnyard on a greased track of glorious brown mud. Welcome!