is this paradise

IS THIS PARADISE
every year when i was in practice we would have a spring party
here at the country n
for the families of the employees of the clinic where i worked
near austin

we called it larrys weekend named after the rooster that
use to attack my wife she

the part i enjoyed the most was that the kids would come out
and just wear themselves out playing on stuff and doing things
that you cant buy at walmart target toys r us
things like

dirt

an old cedar tree stump that i drug up here from my neighbors house
where he had cut it down and was going to burn it
i trimmed it up good and put it in the middle of our circle drive

the kids the first time they came out gravitated instantly to that
old cedar trunk
they looked like ants climbing all over that thing

since retirement we havent had a large group like that again
but
this weekend we had a family made up of mom and dad and
a kiddo lets call mr c and their dog we will call s

s is infamous for coming out here and going down to
the river
he really enjoyed it
the owners had him on a leash but he was enjoying himself
so much smelling the ranch smells and the river smells
that they let him loose
now this dog is a beagle
its genetic you know
they like to chase things like in the fox and hound and deer

so off s went once he was released like a deer dog on a big
time deer hunt
you could hear him in the distance

now this dog was prebaby ie mr c so it was the baby

off the dad goes he a runner trying to run him down
through briers brush along side the curvy river
but little old s just out ran the humans

however after an hour or two of much anguish
he returned
the happiest he had been in a long time

we forget how comforting it is to be out here
where its quiet
the wind blows most of the time
you dont hear or see any neighbor noises

things are just beautiful here

like this lady banksia rose

like this crossvine

like these happy composting laying chickens

the first thing little mr c did was go straight towards and on
my john deere lawn tractor and wagon
now he didnt want to ride on it
just to play on it
which he did several times
i think he touched every inch of thing that day

then off to the river we went
all kids like to play in the river
so do dads and organicgreen doctors

on the way we crossed the pastures where these paint horses stay
a friendly bunch they are
they kissed the dog
and
let us all pet them

then down to the river we went
to skip rocks wade in the water
well mr c managed to fall in or well he played in the river

yes we kept s on the leash
he was astraining though to go farther and faster
i think he remembered his deer and the hound event

we collected some frogs
well they jumped out of the containers
but
we did manage to scoop up some minnows
to put in my water tanks
to eat those dang mosquito larva

we let mr c put them in the water tank
which he enjoyed

at the end of the visit
we all felt relaxed
a picture was sent back to us as
mr c was conked out as soon as they hit the highway

we enjoy sharing our place
we know how much we enjoy it everyday
having people come by like this
makes us reset ourselves
and
pay closer attention to those little things around here
we sort of take for granted

quietness solitude beauty the animals nature
wildflowers native plants
and
life

the organicgreen doctor