tao1776

The walls were colorfully decorated with streamers and balloons. A table against the wall offered punch and soda, chips and pretzels. A space was made for a birthday cake soon to follow. Put out too early, twenty little fingers would destroy it only because that's what tiny little fingers do. A few boys would grab the leftover balloons and blow feverishly in a contest of lung vs latex attempting to blow a balloon beyond its bounds until the signature, "Pop" was heard. Expansion is followed by contraction. Growth is not forever. There is birth and new growth. But eventually everything decays and death is certain. Everything is circular - not linear. And don't forget those tiny little fingers doing what tiny little fingers do. They become big fingers doing what big fingers do. The blowing balloon of expanding wealth will eventually explode. What that means is anyone's guess. A Great Depression? A revolution? The cost of everything continues to escalate while...

During that period of life when I found myself as a driver for a preacher/evangelist, I came to know a man who knew all about trees. Spending time with him I began to realize how much I took trees for granted. I am surrounded by all these magnificent trees and I knew none of them. Jay however, knew that there were: Annuals Biennials Perennials Flowering trees Shrubs Bulbs  and Creepers He knew every specie of tree along with as much information about these trees as an anthropologist from his study of the American Indian. I was humbled and a little ashamed. Over twenty years ago, during a long period of illness and injury, I rediscovered the healing energy of plants and tinctures and teas. I also studied QiGong, Tai Chi and Taoism. The Yi Jing has been invaluable. I have told you of Gaia Girls enrollment in an in depth study of plants and herbs. It's amazing. I could lament that I never saw my studies through to their conclusion. But that ...

Just a reminder - snow may be only four months away! Embrace the heat! Can't be beat! We're in New England ... where there are ONLY TWO SEASONS!

Katie come in to visit this morning because having a chicken in the house on occasion is well, quite alright by me! I see more chicken poop dropping off our shoes than from any of our visiting chickens. Sometimes they just like to see what life is like in the "Big House". Katie is very well mannered but as you can see she's not too sure of the cat's intention. She stuck close by to me knowing that I've always been good to her. She would chose me over the cat any day. I guess she forgot that I cooked her brother Chumley on the grill. Damned good too. Lately I've spent most of my blog time writing about my chickens. In the past I often felt compelled to share stories about a disturbed ex-wife, a broken government, and sometimes writing about Buddhism and Taoism and personal history: along with a few product endorsements thrown in here and there. Other than a few TaoSpring and chicken stories, I've not had much more in me. The chickens are fun. Most every...

I love the simple ritual of gathering eggs. If there exists a training tool designed for training chickens, it's plain old, 2 loaves for $1.00 white bread for this flock o' birds. They let out a cheer every time I approach with bread in hand and eagerly throw themselves at the door hoping to grab the first bite. Learning to slip into my Muck boots prior to entering the run and Fort Seuss greatly decreased the amount of chicken shit that winds up under the table, on the stairs or piled in front of the toilet. With hat on bald dome, Muck boots on flat feet and my Guinness Bucket in hand, the bread is scattered and bread rugby begins. It's damn exciting to watch! Today every chicken laid an egg. And many of them in the extra large category. I pluck each egg with amazement and awe. I am grateful. That is truly part of why we should keep things simple. I have no desire to turn this into work. There is work to be done; and it is our responsibly...

The wee peeps moved outside with thirteen more scheduled to round out the herd this weekend. Gaia Girl set out to build an addition to Fort Seuss and ended with a mini-me of the same. Fantastic job! Mounted on the rear of the coop is one of the original windows to TaoSpring circa 1900. She successfully built a chicken terrarium where we can now charge admission for seeing the cute little buggers do what cute little buggers do. All for the price of a smile.   I made a gallon of Cabot stain last year to match the color of TaoSpring. It sat in the basement all winter until the can began to rust, providing a little incentive to begin my staining. With Gaia Girl leading the way, I couldn't leave her masterpiece looking pretty all by it's lonesome. So yesterday, before today's monsoon moved in, I painted Fort Seuss with the help of ten mischievous and ultra curious chickens at my feet. They stood around commenting and picking and digging everywhe...