Wind-words

The weather changed drastically overnight. We have had beautiful sunny warm weather for days and today it's cold, rainy and very windy.
The goats don't like bad weather... especially wind. They get strange and  move around a lot.  I went out front to take some pictures of the storm moving through our river valley. It's always a beautiful thing to experience, a gift for our mild winter... rain for the spring wildflowers....
And I thought about the folks in West Liberty, KY again. I said another silent prayer for the people of that town .
 The clouds that I see are dark, filled with rain and moving fast. I want them to let loose of their moisture. There is no fear of these clouds. They are life giving.
But in a town in Kentucky, the same size as ours, gone in the rubble of a Tornado, they fear clouds and wait for the ones they call "bad"...and the sirens.

Then, my thoughts were interrupted... I heard the goats making this yelling and crying sound.
I ran back into the house and out the back door.
"What's wrong?" I asked, as I went to the fence.
Yes, I always talk to my animals.
They were both standing in the doorway looking at me.

There was Brownie, my one horned darling. Giving me a half grin and looking like he had not a care in the world.
"Brownie. What was all that noise about. I thought you were being attacked."
He just looked at me and continued to munch on his mouth full of hay.
"Well?", I asked.
He just grinned.
"Murphy! Come over here, please."

"Hi, Farmlady."
"What's going on out here? It sounded like you were being attacked."
"No, we are fine. But we don't like this wind."
"Does it scare you?... It does, doesn't it? "
" Well, we don't understand why we can't see the wind. There is this sound  that comes and everything moves... the trees, the leaves and everything goes from one place to another. Why is this, Farmlady?"
" Wind is very complicated Murph'. It's about air pressure and things that happen way up in the sky. But, it won't hurt you. You are safe here in your house. I promise."
" I still don't like it."
"You know what? There is a really huge wind called a Tornado. We don't have them here but in the Midwest and in the East and South East they have wind that comes out of the sky and circles down with such force that it damages houses, people and animals. We don't have storms like that here. We are very lucky."
"Are you sure, Farmlady?"
"Yes Murph', I'm sure."

He came up to the fence... and we touched noses.
"It's really OK." I whispered.
He went back into the goathouse.
Brownie came out and looked at me.

The backdoor screen slammed shut in the wind. It startled Brownie.

He panicked and turned around to look as the wind picked up. The sky was clearing and the sun was shinning but the wind was blowing hard.
Brownie turned and looked at me again.

"Maybe the sky is falling, Farmlady."
"No, Brownie. The sky fell in Kentucky, Ohio and Illinois a few days ago. It's not going to fall here. It's just a strong wind."
"Well, I don't like it." and he walked back into the goathouse with Murphy.
I heard voices coming from the goats inside their house. I think I heard Murphy say something like,
"Dwi ddim yn hoffi gwynt."
Then I heard Brownie say, "I don't like the wind either, Murph' " 
They will probably stay in their house all day today.

What a Day!.... and it's not even over with... yet.

This California girl has just about had enough of this "Springtime" weather. 
I'm tired of the wind, the rain, the thunder and lightening..... and three of my "billy goats gruff".
Gruff as in ... being really awful to Brownie.
Gruff as in... they are making Brownie miserable and they don't seem to care. 
It's bad enough that he's lost his horn....

But now he's being ostracized. The other goats don't want  to be anywhere near him and when he tries to join them... they push him away.

He a goat adrift... in a field of despair. 
He's a goat alone in the world.

Oh, Brownie. I'm so sorry this is happening.

I don't understand why the goats are rejecting him. He was always one of the pack. I think it has to do with him losing his horn. I don't know if they did it playing around, butting heads and pushing each other like they do. I think maybe they didn't like all the blood, or that the missing horn makes him different. I just don't know. Maybe they are rejecting the weakness. He had always been such a hard nose. Now he's acting very vulnerable.
The other day I got mad at Bart for pushing Brownie away from the fence while I was petting him and all I got from Bart was attitude.

And after he stopped playing around trying to be.... "all that".

Then he gives me his "wonderful goat" look and walks away.
BEAST! 
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This morning we are having a wind storm with lots of sideways rain. It's a really cold ( well, not cold like Michigan, Dawn.) rain. It's snowing in Pine Grove.  the news this morning said it's even snowing in Sonora. (1900 ft.) 
The trees are swaying back and forth. One of those days when people should stay inside so I was downloading some pictures from my camera and I heard a cry from what I thought was Brownie.
I put my raincoat on. Ran out to the goat house and Brownie was on the other side of their house hunkering against the wall. The other goats were in the goat house. 
I put my boots on, sloshed out to him and led him back into the enclosure.  I closed the gate so he couldn't leave again and told the other goats to behave themselves. They were guarding the doorway so Brown couldn't get in. They have been doing this for weeks now. This photo shows them a few days ago, ganging up on Brown because he had the audacity to go into the house. They went in and chased him out.

So, I realized that it wasn't Brown's bawling I heard from inside the house. His is more pathetic.
As I stood there, I heard it again and guess what?.... I walked out to the front driveway, looked up the road and what did I see? COWS above the chicken house. BIG BLACK COWS!!! We don't own any cows. The Prospector had gone into town. I'm here dealing with a rejected goat and, all of a sudden, a small herd of COWS appear. WHAT THE...!!
I ran up the road toward them yelling and shouting. They gave me that wide eyed stare that cows get when they are confronted or startled. Then they turned around (thank God) and walked back up the road. I'm so glad that they were being agreeable. They are very big animals. Wouldn't want to have one argue with me. They were much more cooperative than Brownie, who had to be sweet talked and pushed back though two fences and  into the goat house.
About a half hour later the Prospector came home. He went up and closed the big gate that we installed, half way up to the well, just for those occasions when cows decide to visit. He didn't see any cows. I must have made an impression on them. They were heading back to where ever they belonged. I'm sure that they were saying, as they walked away,  " Crazy woman! over there. We don't need to go down that road again." 
***********************
Well, SH%*TE... now our Flowering Pear tree just lost a big limb and it's laying on the garage roof and back porch. I will return.....
***********************

And a couple of hours later...
I've been gone for a while. I needed to be out there to watch over my husband . He was up on a ladder and that's kind of scary in this wind. He has a bad knee. He was using a chain saw. I just wanted to be close by.

You had to be there. The wind blowing. The rain pelting down. The branch landed on our iron fence and then the wood fence. Thankfully the fences broke the heaviness of the huge branch and there was no damage to the back porch or the garage roof. The Prospector started cutting the heaviest part of the branch to relieve the weight on the fences.

The photo is kind of blurry because of the rain and wind. Then the Prospector went around and cut some of the smaller branches away from the back porch.

The trellis held up really well considering that it caught the top of the tree.

I'm guessing that the weakness from the other branch that fell last year is what weaken this one. It came from the same area on the tree. We may lose the whole tree now. I hope not. It's so much shade in the summer and it's such a beautiful tree. 

The rest of the tree is moving back and forth. We are hoping that it doesn't fall over. The wind is so strong today. It's still blowing hard out there..... and the rain....  We are thankful for a sound home and that the electricity hasn't gone off..... knock on wood....

I didn't say that.... knock on wood...

Mother nature is sure having it her way this year. 

The rain is even hitting the window that's under the front porch.... What a day!

Reality

Wind brings movement
outside my window.
Moving leaves and branches,
here and there,
passing unseen
except by what it touches
as it moves through the air.

Sometimes I wish I were
like this wind.
blowing through life.
but...

I am more
like a large dog
on it's rounds,
leaving footprints everywhere
in the neighbor's garden,
wagging my tail
and
wearing out my welcome.