Countdown!

WE HAVE KEATS COMING IN SEVEN DAYS and still no sign of a coop for them to call home. The wood pile is gone and the ground has been flattened and filled. I even have some of the stringers cut, yet only in my imagination has the coop come together. I need good weather and am looking at rain for the next two days. I could build in the rain, but since we have shelter large enough to move around in, I have become a fair weather builder. Yes, I've said it! It is good to just get it out in the open and admit it.

When we lived in the camper and well house, we built everyday. Rain, snow, sleet or blazing sun-- we kept building. The thinking was that everything we did brought us closer to some goal. I see now that the goal was to get out of the rain, snow and blazing sun. Boy, am I glad we now have someplace to get out of the nasty weather.

Up until we chose homelessness, retirement and potential, over a house, mortgage, and job, I never really appreciated much of anything I had. Now, I appreciate just not being wet when it rains. Comparison is evidently the key to happiness. I can help you see this with a short experiment: Go get a pair of pliers and squeeze on one of your fingers really hard and keep it firmly clamped at the unbearable pain level. Now, stop. Isn't that a lot better! Your finger still hurts, but it's better- a lot better and you are much happier than you were. Before you squeezed your finger, you had not really noticed how nice it was not to be squeezing your finger, now you really appreciate not squeezing.

So, the point of the painful experiment is I am not going out in the rain to build and I really, really appreciate it. Still, the keats are coming and I intend to be ready. I am preparing by trying to do things that will speed the construction when the weather breaks. I may actually draw up a plan and make a cutting list. On something this small I usually design roughly and cut as I go. The result is sometimes quite interesting.

More likely though, I will just do dishes and try to get ready for the company coming tomorrow. Company is a powerful motivator around here. It makes me stand back and look at all the things I have left dangling and piles of tools and materials laying around. Kris and I will try to make our place less messy. It is after all a barn and there are limits. Gravel and hay track in constantly. In the end, we will be satisfied that things look pretty good. This is by comparison to what it looks like now of course. (Repeat the above experiment here if you have forgotten how powerful comparison is.)

We are going to feed them and you never know how new company will take to cooking and eating in a barn. I think some people are unnerved by the bacteria, fungus, molds etc. that are a part of barn life. These people are farmers and have there own barn and animals. I suspect that they will probably do just fine even if they don't go home and move from their house into their barn after seeing how much fun it is here.