Life, Death & CAUAC, June 2012

One of the female turkeys, carrying on
today as if nothing was amiss

We are -- or were kind of sad today -- well at least Kristine felt a bit sad. The Cats.... naaaw. Nature the great teacher. I’ve been sad on one level and on another total detachment is required, because what can I do? Or not do?


SO that Maha.....


It’s a lot of fun but not that easy living with a buncha animals in the wild country.  They do what they do.  My part in it is that I make conditions nice for them to come around.  In addition to the land already being very nice and accomodating to a wide variety of wild presences.

Turkeys in the backyard,
heading over to the food garden
where I was watering

This spring there’s been a wonderful flock of 3 female turkeys and maybe a dozen little ones.  They’ve been hanging around the front hillside and increasingly closer to my house as time has gone by.  We talk to each other.  I call to them if I see them on the hillside feeding in the mornings.  Lately they were in the back yard -- quite near the food garden.  All the watering I do plus numerous little bowls around are of course an added attraction.  And I’m sure those little ones would just love to check out the succulent brassicas ...

Stalkers.  They are masters at it.

They recently started flying.  The other day some naughty cats tried to stalk the flock as they were right in front of the house.  I was relieved to see all of them take to the trees, easily out of reach of the cats. It occurred to me that they’re hanging around closer because the little ones CAN now fly.  My felines would have made short work of them if they had come in contact at an earlier stage. 


So the turkeys... they haven’t been around for a few days.  I was wondering about them.  But Maha has, I was jolted out of sleep by a single ARRRRGhfff in the night recently.  Just one of those lil ‘Hi I’m Here’ greetings.  I guess that means ‘Hi, I’m just passing thru and somewhat busy with hunting, so SHHHHHH!!!” 


                         as opposed to “AAAARRGGHHFF 


                                                  AAAARRRRGGGHHF 

                        AAAARRRGGGFFF”


                                              in the night, coming over the hillside

Lion print in the dust

“Hi I’m HERE!!!  Anyone want to go hunting over at M24?   
          Hi Krissy Lou!!!”


He left me a scrape the other night too, where I had been parking the car in the shade......

And Lo!! There they were,
right by the car later today!

Cars.  Dang ‘em.  I can do nothing with them in breakdown mode except grovel to my mechanic.  Which I had to do last Sunday morning at 10:30 am because the thing died on the way up the road.  I had to park it in the truckyard of my neighbor’s place.  

Had to park in Jack Gray's
 industrial yard when I ran out of gas

Mike’s been working on the car trying to figure it out. Many things have been replaced.  He’s a good mechanic but doesn’t have the equipment to diagnose a modern car with all their computerized this and that.  Somebody else had to do it, at a distance and quite a nice price.  So the gas gauge is stuck on F, other gauges don’t work, there are lights that stay on, and it won’t start if I turn it off and try to turn it back on right away again unless it sits for a critical number of minutes, preferably in shade. 


He had to come over and rescue me last Sunday morning.  Smart guy, he came with a 5 gallon gas can.  What can I say, the gas gauge is stuck on “F”....  


Mind you, I’ve been dealing with the car suddenly not starting for about 3 weeks now and the fun doesn’t seem to stop.  Yesterday it didn’t start at the gas station and I had to wait.  Starts fine if it’s cold.  It kind of works.  

MilkThistle going to seed, OUCHY!!!Silybum marianum

So today I was out there in the field picking Milk Thistle heads for a new tea and/or tincture I want to make.  Anyone know a good way to get the seeds out of the heads and free of the lil fuzzies?   I’ve got a big cat fud bag full of the thorniest pickiest seed heads.  One time some years ago I picked some and tried whacking the bag with a piece of PVC pipe.  It must not have worked too well because I don’t recall that I got much out of the deal for how much work it was.  But determined to try again as someone requested a tea blend.  


As I’m out there picking and puttering around, I noticed kind of an odd spot on the next terrace down, all trampled and in disarray.  To my shock I found this:

I'm going "Now what is
THIS grisly thing?"

Close up of eaten carcass,
feathers were EVERYWHERE!

Which could ONLY be the work of the Maha.  




Gawd, feathers everywhere.  WEll I.... guess we know why the turkeys have not been around lately.  Hiding out......


The interesting thing is, as I continue to get jolted by these sudden derailments of my momentum, I seem to handle it with less systemic shock.  But everything together in the last weeks and especially few days has been one bumpy little ride --  including my checking account bombing out with spiraling overdraft fees, a naughty naughty letter from the Hwy Dept for parking in a handicapped spot, and what I hope is one last nasty letter from a bill collector who will be unsuccessful at getting me to pay for an idiot phone scam I am not responsible for.  How’s that for a couple days worth of electroshock therapy?  


And on another level I understand, it is what it is.  This is what Cauac is about, getting jolted into the Unknown via 3d breaking down in your face.   I can’t respond by crying that it’s happening, it’s way more expedient to just accept ‘okay, here’s the crucible again’.   It also helps to know everyone is going through some version of upset with all these amazing things happening on this Earth.

And then there was this odd bunch of ballons
found nearby, kind of surreal

Check it out, not far from where the turkey became Midsummer Night’s Dinner, I discovered a handful of ballons on a string in the field -- how they didn’t all get popped by the milk thistle is a total wonder.  In earth/sky colors of white, green and blue.  It was like a gift from the Sylphs.  They look great in the yard.

They look like they belong in the yard,
not the field full of thistles

 And maybe the Maha eating the turkey was also a gifting.  Mom turkey offered herself as food for the Maha in the dance of life and death, her blood spilled on the land as an offering to the Earth Mother.   It’s just shocking to see the ...  aftermath of that.  I loved their presence on the hillside in the mornings and the sweet sounds they made.   Of course I love the Maha too, madly.  Fiercely.  What can I say, it’s my feline star genes that resonate so strongly with the cat kingdom.  


I will be so happy though when Nature is not in an energy dynamic where they have to eat each other to survive.


Today I also got up and discovered I didn’t have water pressure.  That always sends me a little whacky, as the ancient watering system here already has monstrous blackberries and several trees obviously feeding off a leak somewhere, no doubt seriously under the whole works, including the dilapitating barn.  They basically eclipse the barn from view in the summer.  


And then I went WHEW!!, it’s because there’s no electric power -- which is NOT my deal, that’s PG & E.  It just means I have no water, power, or refridgeration, and will have to go INto the dilapitating barn to reset the pressure tank when it comes back on.  Life in the wild country.  Never a dull moment, that is if you like plants, animals and wild nature.  I’m not too interested in the Civilization of Yuckdom too much.    Good thing, as a great portion of it is surely Babylon Goin Down.  I cast my lot with the Architects of the New Earth, wild animals, milk thistles and all.

And they sniffed...

"Hi I'm Here", a mere 30
 paces from my upper garden

And then I had to just marvel at the wonder of it all, most especially Nature.   After writing the above I went off in search of maybe a few intrepid strawberries to have with breakfast, and on the way down the lane I discovered not 1 but 2 fresh Maha droppings from probably last night. 

 "Hi I’m Here"   

Signed, Kristine Lavender Love. 

"Hi I'm Here"

And they SNIFFED....
That's my shed down there

No sooner had I come out with a bowl of quinoa in hand did I see another most miraculous site:  There, right next to my car -- which was right near the front watering bowls -- were the 3 mom turkeys with all their lil ones, hanging around as if nothing out of the ordinary had occurred.  Of course the naughty cats had to get in on the action.....  

Always a good idea to avoid the felines if you're a bird

I was so happy to see them!  And still sorry for the death of the other mysterious Sacrificial Turkey, but really, who am I to say, they all know their roles with each other better than I do.   

Amon Ra cools his toes in the bird bath

And I have to say I’m ....  glad it was the turkey rather than one of the cats.  Oh it’s a feline’s life of Paradise over here.

Newly planted bed in front of the Resource Ctr. 

That’s the report at the end of June -- Mimosa Blossom Time -- 2012. I am very busy with gardens, including a new little project in front of the community center in Mtn. Ranch where I work one afternoon a week.  




Also with 2 hatha yoga classes -- soon to be one if people don’t want to come -- so hey where are all you folks who said you wanted a Monday Night class in the RRFlat gym at the school?  Bring yer mat.

Mimosa trees just starting to bloom

As we ride the bumpy waves of change in to the harbors of the New Time,  I wish you all Balance.....!!! and Blessed Be! 
     from

      Kristine Lavender Love