Happy Thanksgiving

Taj the Turkey, living happily at the Lighthouse Farm Animal Sanctuary, September 2007

Wordless Wednesday

The day was a walk in the park!

The rain stopped today! The clouds lifted, the sun tentatively appeared, and we headed for the park. Not having thought to bring my sunglasses (it's November in Oregon, people!), I squinted through the windshield as I drove us through the curvy, hilly roads. Our destination: Forest Park, the largest wooded city park in the United States. It covers over 5,000 acres of land within the city boundary of Portland, Oregon and its beauty never stops impressing me. Its 70+ miles of interconnecting trails are pretty dang cool, too.

Hearing stories of horrible drought affecting so many areas of the United States currently, I found myself appreciating this lush and verdant home of mine while also thanking the stars for the brief respite from the rain.

Then we slogged our way back to the car, our boots having become cement anchors from the sticky mud stuck to the bottom of them. And while Roxy Mud Dog loved the hike, she didn't much care for the mandatory bath afterwards...check out that water!:

My Dog Eats Dirt

So, what do your doggies eat? This is my girl, Roxy the Dirt Eater, a.k.a. Mud Dog. I left her alone with the potting soil tray for only a moment and came back to this... face. Innocent appearing, yes, but the truth was written all over her mouth. And to actually think I've worried about her adjusting to life on a farm. She looks the part of a princess lap dog (that's the Shih-Tzu in her) until you see her in action. Then it's clear she believes herself to be true Cairn Terrier right to her bones. She's smart, spirited, feisty, opinionated, enthusiastic, energetic, loyal, stubborn...and she loves to eat dirt. She also eats walls, furniture, umbrella handles, and rabbit poop but those are all stories for maybe a later time.

Picture of the Day: A Bright Spot

It's gloomy outside - it has started to drizzle and the sky is getting darker by the moment. The rains are coming, the forecasters say, though they've been saying this now for two days. I want to crawl back into bed. My son is home sick from school, no realtors are calling wanting to show our house, and the farm-of-my-dreams feels very far away. Something catches my eye as I walk past the door leading out to the terrace. My Fall Camelia has started to bloom. A gaudy bright pink bloom is right dead-center in the middle of the bush. It makes me smile.

Lighthouse Farm Animal Sanctuary - A place to behold

Friends I've made at the Lighthouse Farm:

Today I want to tell you about a person I met over the summer and the most amazing place he has created. His name is Wayne Geiger and he founded the non-profit Lighthouse Farm Animal Sanctuary after finding that farm and larger animals (horses, cows, llamas, sheep, goats, pigs, etc.) taken from abusive or neglectful situations rarely had a place to go. This fact often prevented them from receiving the help they deserved. With the goal of providing a safe haven for these beautiful creatures, Wayne created the Lighthouse Farm Animal Sanctuary, located on 52 wonderful acres in Scio, Oregon. The farm is run under the principal that all domestic animals deserve five basic freedoms:

1. Freedom from malnutrition - all animals have a right to a healthy diet.
2. Freedom from disease - all animals deserve clean and well-ventilated housing.
3. Freedom from discomfort - all animals deserve shelter from the elements, protectionfrom predators, and proper healthcare.
4. Freedom from fear or distress - all animals have a right to feel safe and unthreatened.
5. Freedom to express normal behavior

After a personally very trying and stress-ridden 2007, I found information online about the Lighthouse Farm Animal Sanctuary. I had been investigating opportunities (volunteer and paid) for working with animals...returning to my roots and passion, so to speak.

The first time I drove up the gravel driveway of the Lighthouse Farm Sanctuary, I felt an enormous weight being lifted from my shoulders. Literally, a feeling of peace flooded my body. It was such an odd and unexpected physical sensation. I hadn't felt like this in years and all I had done was drive up a gravel road with farm animals on all sides of me. Be sure to check out the official LFS site if you'd like more information: http://www.lighthousefarmsanctuary.org/.
My son and I go out every second Saturday to work on Volunteer Day. This is a good place.

Picture of the Day: Covered Bridge outside Scio, Oregon

One of the many covered bridges in Linn County, Oregon, the covered bridge capital of the West.

I think this pic is cool for a number of reasons:

1. Aesthetically, I love the the shapes and shadowing of this covered bridge and how the perspective goes from a wide view to a narrower focus on the distance.
   
   
2. It fits the title of my blog page, "On the road to Critter Farm" very well. When I took this picture, we were, indeed, on the road to a critter farm: the Lighthouse Farm Animal Sanctuary, http://www.lighthousefarmsanctuary.org/ .
   
   
3. I like to find metaphors for life in my pictures. I view this image as a metaphor for my own life: I am currently someplace beautiful and the road ahead, although quite different from where I am now, will be equally beautiful. In other words, slow down, enjoy where I am presently, all things in moderation, cautiously dream of tomorrow. I have a good life now even though I feel the future holds bright things. (Don't you think a lot of us need occasional small reminders to enjoy each day and not be perpetually tunnel-vision-focused on the future?)
   
   

What will I do on my 7.62 acres? (Cont'd from 10/26/07)

I'm sitting here today getting my mind around why I am pushing so hard for this move. What is there for me on 7 1/2 acres that propels me physically and mentally away from a most comfortable city life? There are so many unknowns. What do I really know about our future on this land?

I know for sure that:

1. We will have chickens. I like chickens.
2. We will have goats. Goats are funny.
3. We will grow sunflowers and other pretty blooming things. I'm good at this.
4. We will have some fruit trees. I've never had those before.
5. I will bake some amazing bread. Bread is an incredible comfort food.
6. There are surprises ahead for us. These surprises will be both good and bad.
   

What I, personally, would like is:

1. to take in abandoned, neglected or abused animals.
2. to create a calm and safe home for them.
3. to learn the difference between hay and straw. :-)
4. to have one or two horses (Jim isn't convinced yet).
   

What I don't know yet is:

1. how to help my animals most effectively.
2. how I will afford all this.
3. whether to create an official sanctuary or refuge.
4. if I should establish a 501 (c) (3) non-profit as a means for support.
5. if I should market the farm as a learning tool for children and their parents, allowing them access to and experience with animals they might not see every day.
6. whether I will have enough free-range eggs from my incredibly happy hens to give to all my friends who are anxious for them. :-)

It's all about the animals

In case I didn't make it completely clear in my very first post, it's all about the animals for me. This move my family is planning - the departure from city life to become country dwellers - is, for me, about living with the animals.

From the time I was small, I was always been a bit of a loner. I never had a clique, I didn't get into, or invited to, the bigger social gatherings, and I tended to maintain just a handful of close friends. I hated dolls and dresses and the all traditional "girl" stuff, choosing instead to obsess over animals - real and stuffed. My collection of fuzzy, stuffed, silent pals numbered over 200. (This was a frightening number, if you ask my mom. She will tell you about the time we realized all 200 had fleas due to a summer doggy flea infestation - ewwwww!! To me, of course, this was just proof that my so-called "stuffed" beasts were indeed quite real!)

My childhood was filled with living pets and critters of all kinds, too. They came to me both with and without parental permission. Dogs and cats and hamsters. A Shetland pony for a short time. A huge white rabbit named Marmaduke. An Alpine goat named Rodney and a black-faced lamb named Savannah. Even though it didn't dawn on me at the time - my world always felt so random - there was a very consistent, distinct pattern (and calling?) in my life.

And so...

Peace for me is when I am in the presence of animals. Their unconditional nature is a powerful thing. They just are - and they are fine with this. When I am near them, I feel healed and healthy. I feel productive and filled to the brim with thoughts and ideas and energy. When I am away, I plot and plan how to get close again.

This is what I'm doing from the kitchen table in my city home today, Sunday, November 11th, 12:42pm: plotting and planning.

Paper Towels

Growing up, my family didn't have a lot of money. Being the child I was, though, I was never aware that we didn't have much money. In my world, we always had "enough" and there was never anything I suffered over for not having (other than a horse). The thought never once occurred to me that my parents were skimping and saving and occasionally challenged to make the money stretch to meet our needs. Hearing stories now from my mom about how she was given a $7.50/week grocery budget always makes me chuckle and shake my head. Imagine: $7.50!!

One memory I do have, though, haunts me oddly in my daily adult life. This memory is about paper towels.

Paper towels were considered a luxury in the home that I grew up in. I never knew any different, I just knew that some weeks we had paper towels (apparently the grocery budget was $7.80 that week) and other weeks we didn't. When we did have them, they were guarded and metered out, only for use in "important" situations. I can remember my mom telling me "Not so many - paper towels are expensive!" and hearing an occasional panicked "Don't waste those!".

Now that I'm an adult and have my own weekly grocery budget, I always purchase paper towels. There is rarely a time when my house doesn't have paper towels, and, if it does, it is never for more than a day. It's an odd requirement of mine to always have paper towels handy.

And yet, old lessons die hard...I always buy the very cheapest paper towels. I always, always spend time walking up and down the paper goods aisle to make sure I have, indeed, purchased the cheapest rolls. And, in my daily home use, I always, *always* feel a flash of guilt every time I tear off a sheet for use.