Friday, October 23, 2020

The Church Of The Dirt And The Day And The Hymns Thereof


 Oh, if only every day could be as sweet as this one has been. And there has been nothing crazy wild about it, it's all just been simple and good and even as I write this, it is raining and the smell of it, the cool feel of the air are intoxicating and the sound of it is a song of love to the earth. 

I've been thinking about songs all day. Love songs, mostly. The love song of the rooster to himself and to the day and to his hens, the love song of us humans as we keen, the love song of the hens as they go about their busyness, their scratching, their laying, their murmured songs of conversation all day long, sometimes asking questions of each other, sometimes just singing gossip. 


Everything has a song. Almost everything has a love song. The moon's song of love-gravity, the sun's song of love-light, the river's song of love-moving-life, the tree's song of love-reaching both into the sky and earth at the same time. 



The love songs dirt and seeds sing to each other as one takes in the other to offer a place for life to begin.


The song of the seedlings as they break the dirt to become what they are meant to be. 
The love song of my heart as I pat the dirt to settle the seeds, as I pick the tiny sprouts to make room for the others, as I wash them and dry them and make them part of our supper and then our bodies. 

That's what this day has been like. Planting, feeding the rows with the rich mushroom compost which has its own sturdy, robust, black song of plenty-promise. I've let go for one day of worry and fear and trying to overthink everything from packing to politics. I've washed sheets, I've made the bed, I've made the bread, I've kissed the man, I've listened to all of the songs and sung my own as I've gone along, silently, mostly, but as real and pure as they can be.

Happy Friday, y'all. 




Love...Ms. Moon


34 comments:

  1. Glad you had such a pleasant day. You sound full of joy today! Thanks for sharing it!

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  2. And love to you, Mrs. Moon. You sound so anticipatory of your vacation trip.
    Is that a rose of Sharon up there?

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    1. Related to Rose of Sharon- a confederate rose. Both mallows. Good eye!

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  3. That's a lovely, contented post. I have to read it again.

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  4. Fabulous! Much love to you too.

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  5. A good day. A pearl beyond price in these times. X

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  6. How strange that you should write about the hens singing ( and singing in general) Yesterday I read an article in the supermarket's weekly newspaper about a farmer who plays music to his many hens ( he has 64,000) ...part of an experiment to see if it helps their welfare. You can find a link if you " Google" his name......Glenn Haggart Addington Farm. ("Innovative Farmers" is another link ).x

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    1. I will check that out! I remember when Glen first built the coop he put a radio and speakers in it and they chickens listened to classical music. Before too long, it all sort of fell apart- they were old and very used. I hadn't thought of that in a while. Thanks for the name and link.

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  7. This is such a lovely post and my totally unskilled gardener's heart sings along with it.

    When I first ventured out into the world of speaking (learning came much later) another language, the use of dirt vs. earth was totally confusing. In my mother tongue, dirt means something dirty and definitely not something you would want to get your hands into, dirt is what your mother gets mad about when you bring it into the house, whereas earth is where seeds grow. Earth can be dirty, yes, but mostly it's rich and good and all that. We do have songs about this earth and humus in German is called Muttererde (mother's earth).

    But there you have it, I figured it out a long time ago.
    Your hens are a delight.

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    1. Well, our two words "dirt" and "earth" also have similar connotations but I love both of them. Earth is really just as dirty as dirt no matter how you look at it. I love "Muttererde". I want to remember that. And my hens certainly are a delight to me.

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  8. I don't know what you have been a-smoking Earth Mother but I'll have some of that! Some days things just seem to slot into place and all feels well with the world. Growing things and watching them grow is good for the soul as those who do it know for sure.

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    1. I knew people were going to think I'd been down the garden path before I wrote that. (Wink, wink.) But no. Sincerely not. That was just what came out of me when I sat down and I really had been thinking about our songs all day. Growing things is absolutely excellent medicine.

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  9. no rain here but we did get a cool front blow in last night and it feels chilly out there. I plan to take advantage of it. and it is so nice to listen to all the love songs instead of the constant barrage of hate.

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    1. YES! Take advantage of the cool. We aren't getting that yet. Maybe soon.
      It was such a good day.

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  10. Good Morning Mary,

    What a beautiful piece of art, that last picture. The tree bark makes an excellent background. And the hens too, they bring to mind some videos I have recently seen where people, mostly British, have rescued hens from an egg factory. Those poor girls beaten up and in some instances barely alive, don't know what to do with themselves when first free. They photos of a few week, a few months later are amazing. With all their feathers back, scratching in the dirt. Pure joy.

    Have a great trip...our best to yo and your family.

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    1. Oh, hello! I have missed you! Thank you for the sweet words. Those are some of my very tall firespike up against the huge live oak in the front yard.
      I would love to see hens who have been taken from factories and let to roam as they are meant to do. Have you ever seen any of those videos of chimps being released when they've never ever touched the ground before? They are so wary, so scared. And then...that first step. It will make you cry.

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  11. I'm so glad you had a day that you could spend listening to the love songs of nature. Always a grounding experience.

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    1. Yes, yes, yes.
      And was "grounding experience" meant to be a pun? I love it, even if it wasn't.

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  12. Mary!! I LOVE the bark and flower photo so much!!! That would be good for painting wouldn't it? The soil in your garden looks like chocolate cake.

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    1. It's like fudge cake! Or devil's food, at least. I'm glad you like the bark and flower. Paint it if you want to! I would love to see that.

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  13. Love this, from the title all the way through. Happy day, happy week, happy month! Have a great trip to the shore. x0 N2

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    1. Thank you, N2. There will be pictures, you can be sure.

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  14. I just Love that photo of your Rooster and his Hens.

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  15. Sometimes we just feel in harmony with the earth. Thanks for sharing your day.

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Tell me, sweeties. Tell me what you think.