The past week and a half I have been able to get out and do some outdoor things. We had company in town, so of course with any growing boy, we all piled up and took him to the local park. The kids swinging, and the pelicans and seagulls flying overhead while the ducks were swimming in the nearby river, were a nice and welcomed treat. We enjoyed this time in nature a lot as a family. In the days to follow, company was off to their own place far from us out of state, and I was able to enjoy some nature time with my son. We went fishing. Yep, that's what boys and dads are supposed to do, right? Bless his heart, but my son has no patience for fishing. I guess in this fast paced world of kid things, like video games, electronics, electric scooters and the like, there is little time for kids to actually learn patience, let alone enjoy it. I have been working with him the past couple of years on patience. We are making progress. Now there is one more component that fishing involves that my son has a problem with. Worms!!! I was shocked too! He is a boy for goodness sake and should be eating worms, stuffing them in his pockets and throwing them at girls! Not my boy. Seeing them is fine, but get them any closer than 3 feet from him and his little growing feet start to running. It would be funnier, I guess, if I wasn't the one trying to GET him to actually fish.
Neither of us caught any fish and never really had our lines in the water long enough to try. We ended up having more of a Dad/Son conversation than actually fishing and to be honest, I am glad. There will be many more years ahead to conquer fish phobias and catch fish. Open lines of communication? Now that is something to be proud of.
On Tuesday, an opportunity came about to help a friend with some work on her farm. The task at hand was to deconstruct some cages that were not meant to be taken apart and rework them into more functional pens. I worked like a dog, smelled like a pack mule by midday but only got a portion of the cages apart. I tell my son all of the time to not get distracted from his task he is working on. I realize now that I may need to learn that lesson more myself. Being an animal love at heart, my excuse was that I had to socialize and therapeutically spend time with all of the critters at the farm. Of all the different animals on this little farm, the rabbits, pig, chickens, geese, pigeons, roosters, guinea pigs, and ones I am forgetting about, on this particular trip I bonded most with the new pig, Happy.
While I worked on the cages, Happy was behind me about 10 feet away in his cage slopping up his corn like a kid devouring ice cream. His slurping, chomping and grunting made me smile. I would say to him, " Happy, you sure sound happy over there." Or, " That sounds so good I hope you save me some!" With each comment to him, he seemed to respond more vocally. When I would look up from my work and glance over at him, his tail would just wag and wiggle with joy as if he knew I was looking. As I kept working, the rabbits in their pens all above and around me made little cute snuffling noises. The chickens puttering about didn't dare come to close but were definitely curious as to what I was doing and why. Okay, like I mentioned earlier about not being distracted, well I guess the difference between me and my son is that I choose to be distracted. Does that make any sense at all to you? Let me elaborate on that a second. I can choose to totally block things out like noises, sights, smells etc. but I can also choose to let them into my brain and my senses. Well, as I took a few breaks ( chose to be distracted ) I wandered around the farm loving on the animals. I honked with the geese, cooed with the pigeons, clucked with the chickens, grunted with the pig and even rubbed his belly. He loved that.
All in all it was an exhaustively awesome few hours. It is always a wonderful feeling to be able to help out a friend or even a stranger that has a need. I will be going back very soon to help finish the chore and as I do, I am most certain I will once again be distracted by the sheer uniqueness of each animal. Of all the rabbits on the farm, the ones for show and competition, the others for meat and still the others raised for pets, I gravitated to one that had not been the best breeder or had been the most successful mother. She was so sweet. I held her for only a few minutes but we connected. I'm sure of it! Her rust colored fur was so soft and her big ole feet were nice and cool resting on my arm. I hope to see her again soon. I named her Rusty.
As my time ended for the day all covered in sweat, dirt and grime, I made my rounds one more time around the farm. Before I left my friend gave me an abbreviated course in how to show rabbits. I had no clue what judges look for or what breeders look for in choosing which rabbit to show or further breed with which others. It is fascinating. I came home with a wealth of knowledge that the average person or even pet store employee may never have a clue about. I am anxious to learn more the next time I go work at the farm. After having been down and out and occupied with company, I really enjoyed this morning at the farm. I knew I needed some fresh air but I had no clue that my breath of fresh air would be so fruitful with the scent of animals in it. Usually the beach is my get away, outdoor, passion spot. I think now that I will be making a point to make more visits to see all of these critters and also spend more time with my buddy's horses. It is such a blessing to have these outlets in my life. Although I was there to help out someone else, I believe am the one who was helped the most.
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