I am doing okay right now but there was a time earlier this year when i was not. An old familiar feeling crept back into my life. Depression. For me, depression is hardest to deal with during that time of the day when the sun is going down and the light is fading. It means …
Tag Archives: homesteading
Trail Riding in Fredericksburg
I was having trouble being there for someone and remembering to never burden them with my problems or let them know i had had a bad day. When things went in the crapper in my own life, that was mine to handle. When things hit a snag in my friend’s life, also mine. I was …
Winter Weather
Looking at the forecast i noted there was one week day in which it was set to precipitate and also remain well below freezing all day. I asked to work the sunday before so that i could have this day off. My request was granted. The electricity went off for a second but then came …
The Power of Perspective
I had spent an inordinate amount of time thinking about all the ways in which i was too this or too that or not enough of this or that, all the while trying to convince someone that they were enough for their loved ones and friends just as they were. I was 8 years older …
Hill Country Sky
A Hill Country Boxing Match
The couple who sold me this property years ago used to feed raisins to a large road runner that they called “Big Tex”. Over the years i’ve spotted a roadrunner here or there and even found a broken road runner egg next to one that was unfertilized and didnt hatch. It seems the inhabitant of …
A Rattlesnake
This young rattlesnake was in the path when i went to water the orchard one night and i saw it in the headlamp stream right as i raised my foot to step where it was. I then quietly stepped back instead of forwards as i realized i was about to put my foot on a …
Mexican/Texas Persimmons
The ants eat these things down to nothing but a hollow shell moments before peak ripeness. I began picking them when black with a green ring around the top and then leaving them on the counter face down to protect from flies until fully ripened. They have greasy sticky flesh under a paper thin skin. …
A Baby Cottontail
This little guy was smaller than he looks in the photos and endlessly curious about me. Thats how i knew immediately he was a baby. Unlike the adult cottontails, this youngster hasnt learned about predators or danger yet. The den is underneath the shed and when i exercise on my mat laid out on the …
Washing Dishes in the Rain
Because of the long hours ive been working lately i typically wash dishes on the porch on the weekend. If you do it at night scorpions crawl into the tubes and machine. Washing dishes is a strictly daytime porch activity. Well, one weekend the forecast called for rain both saturday and sunday. I picked the …