Cold Things are Beautiful, and Warm Things are Huggable

I am always so stunned by winter skies-- the air and the ground are COLD, but you look up in the evening to see the sky burning with orange, peach, pink, purple, red... I think God made all of His creation with 'compensations'. Some places are hard to live in because they're too cold, or too hot. But, there are certain beauties that cannot be experienced any other place. I think of the stunning Northern Lights one sees in Alaska, but to live there and experience the beauty one must also tolerate very few hours of light in a day.

This afternoon I took my first 'jaunt' of the year on cross-country skis! Trees, brush, and all other 'matter' received a dusting last night that turned to crystal. We received no sun all day, so the beautiful crystals did not melt!

An overflowing, iced-over watering trough

The spout that didn't stop running!

A frosted fir branch

A weed turned beautiful with the intricate formation of ice on it!

Frosted forest-- our house is pictured behind the barn

Phoebe and Fiona are sooo fun! They built their own 'tower' in the play pen out of the couch cushions...

Around home and town this Autumn

Thyme growing wild in the cow pasture

A sleepy, misty morning on 'Wild Thyme Farm'

My favorite apple tree :o)

Our neighbors' barn through the trees...

Wind stealing leaves from the trees!

View of our town from a cow pasture ;o)

Rita and Fiona on the town green-- so pretty! :o)

Our 'Town Hall'. Where we register to vote, and go Contradancing every month! :-D

Yes 'tis true; we have covered bridges :o)

We call these "Ghost Blankets"

Morning Silhouette

Rita's thoroughbred gelding

Little People (2)

Children pick up on very interesting things, I have come to realize. Little Fiona has already developed a 'stereotype' for what different people are like! The other day she was flipping through a magazine, and came to this advertisement that featured a geeky sort of girl wearing a skirt, sneakers, and funky glasses. Fiona pointed to the girl in the picture, and said, "Annie, Annie, Annie." Apparently I am the 'geek' auntie!! LOL. :-D This was confirmed today-- I happened to put my somewhat 'geeky' glasses on to see something out the window... when I pulled them off, Fiona started to fuss, and almost pulled a fit-- she didn't stop until I put them back on, *sigh.* Should I maybe consider a 'look' change??

Autumn Colors

I finally took time to go out with a camera and record some of the fall beauty! The colors are not as vibrant as they ought to be, because there was a haziness from alternating rain/sun, and it was too bright out. The naked eye can see fine, but cameras need 'special' lighting! Hopefully before all the leaves fall off the trees I will get a chance to take more-- I hope you enjoy these though! :-)

Children

"Children"

By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Come to me, O ye children!

For I hear you at your play,

And the questions that perplexed me

Have vanished quite away.

Ye open the eastern windows,

That look towards the sun,

Where thoughts are singing swallows

And the brooks of morning run.

In your hearts are the birds and the sunshine,

In your thoughts the brooklet's flow,

But in mine is the wind of Autumn

And the first fall of the snow.

Ah! what would the world be to us

If the children were no more?

We should dread the desert behind us

Worse than the dark before.

What the leaves are to the forest,

With light and air for food,

Ere their sweet and tender juices

Have been hardened into wood, --

That to the world are children;

Through them it feels the glow

Of a brighter and sunnier climate

Than reaches the trunks below.

Come to me, O ye children!

And whisper in my ear

What the birds and the winds are singing

In your sunny atmosphere.

For what are all our contrivings,

And the wisdom of our books,

When compared with your caresses,

And the gladness of your looks?

Ye are better than all the ballads

That ever were sung or said;

For ye are living poems,

And all the rest are dead.

Psalm 84

1 How lovely is Your tabernacle,

O LORD of hosts!

2 My soul longs, yes, even faints

For the courts of the LORD;

My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.

3 Even the sparrow has found a home,

And the swallow a nest for herself,

Where she may lay her young—

Even Your altars, O LORD of hosts,

My King and my God.

4 Blessed are those who dwell in Your house;

They will still be praising You. Selah

5 Blessed is the man whose strength is in You,

Whose heart is set on pilgrimage.

6 As they pass through the Valley of Baca,

They make it a spring;

The rain also covers it with pools.

7 They go from strength to strength;

Each one appears before God in Zion.

8 O LORD God of hosts, hear my prayer;

Give ear, O God of Jacob! Selah

9 O God, behold our shield,

And look upon the face of Your anointed.

10 For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand.

I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God

Than dwell in the tents of wickedness.

11 For the LORD God is a sun and shield;

The LORD will give grace and glory;

No good thing will He withhold

From those who walk uprightly.

12 O LORD of hosts,

Blessed is the man who trusts in You!

A Blade of Grass

Have you considered a blade of grass?

Its stem grows tall and weak,

Bending, blowing, swaying

With the breeze;

Yet it does not break.

It can be damaged by the cows'

Chewing, squishing, stomping

With their hooves and teeth;

Yet it shall still grow.

The strength of this lies in its roots,

Which strong and lively are.

They push deep, that none

Shall it uproot.

The grass is like one hid in Christ

Who, when trouble seeks to strike him down

He shall rest upon the Lord,

Who his foundation is forever.

This is still a little rough, so if you have constructive criticism to offer, I'll gladly take it! I would like to do more with the last part, since it really is the point of the poem-- I had to rush of to milk the cow, though. But, I want your input on the general structure of it before I make a final draft! :-)

Two Essential Volumes :-)

Mom and Dad purchased a copy of the Scottish Psalter (version with tunes) this August at the FCC conference-- with my direction and pleading of course!! I am finally learning more psalm tunes! I have tried to adopt it as my own, but have had to learn to share... :-( My very favorite so far is Babel's Streams, and other tunes I have found I really like are Effingham, Wetherby, Stornoway, Kilmarnock, and Richmond. From the RPCNA psalter, I like Kingsfold (psalm 22), and Hope (psalm 121). It is so wonderful to be closer to having the ability to sing the psalms at will-- next goal is to not need the psalter so much. :-)

I have also been reading an excellent commentary on the Westminster Confession of Faith (by Robert Shaw)-- which is incredibly helpful! I have read these things already in the Confession, but having them explained for me is incredibly valuable. I am still on the section about the Word of God, but the knowledge gained from his explanations has already been invaluable to me in conversing with unbelievers. If your stack of books is not yet too tall, add a good commentary on the confession! :-D

Come to VT!!

It is now almost peak foliage in the Northeast Kingdom. Give it a week, and the hills will be on fire with crimson, gold, orange, brown, and yellow. Here is a nifty 'foliage map' tracking the usual trends, if you are interested: http://www.foliage-vermont.com/fall_maps.htm. Don't worry about imposing on us-- we'll just put you to work stacking wood, making apple sauce, putting the garden to rest, and sealing things up for winter! ;-)

What's in the Name?

I have been asked why I call my blog "The Chanting Cow". Is there some hidden meaning, or significance?

My use of the title has a few different ideas behind it. I have always been intrigued by the catchy old creative inn names, especially ones in books. For instance, "The Prancing Pony" and "The Green Dragon" in LOTR, "The Red Lion" in, I think, either Sherlock Holmes or some other random literature.

Inns are places that people stop in at for a very short while. And (at least in all the books I've read), people staying at an inn like to exchange ideas, news, stories, etc., which puts a fun twist on the idea of a blog.

Of course, my 'inn' is named after our milk-cow Darcey, who I regret to say does not chant at all. We are working on her in that area-- singing psalms to her while we milk is a start! But, if she could chant I am sure she would say more interesting things than any other cow... ;-D

In closing, this idea of an 'inn' reminds me of a quote by Thomas Watson:

"The world is a great Inn; we are guests in this Inn. Travellers, when they are met in their Inn, do not spend all their time in speaking about their Inn; they are to lodge there but a few hours, and are gone; but they are speaking of their home, and the country wither they are travelling. So when we meet together, we should not be talking only about the world; we are to leave this presently; but we should talk of our heavenly country."

New England Funnies

I just came across these, and thought they were hilarious!! New Englanders really are like this, too... :-D

To the European, a Yankee is an American.
To an American, a Yankee is a New Englander.
To a New Englander, a Yankee is a Vermonter.
To a Vermonter, a Yankee is someone who eats apple pie for breakfast.
And to a Vermonter who eats apple pie for breakfast
a Yankee is someone who eats it with a knife.
~An old Yankee joke

"What New England is, is a state of mind, a place where dry humor and perpetual disappointment blend to produce an ironic pessimism that folks from away find most perplexing." ~ Willem Lange

Random New England 'proverbs':

"You can't keep trouble from coming, but you don't have to give it a chair to sit on."

"It won't be warm till the snow gets off the mountain, and the snow won't get off the mountain till it gets warm."

"Talk less and say more"

"Take care of the minutes and the hours will take care of themselves."

"We have two seasons: winter and the Fourth of July."

"In New England we have nine months of winter and three months of darned poor sledding."

"An ounce of experience is worth a pound of theory."

"The quickest way to do many things is to do one thing at a time."

"Don't ever take a fence down until you know why it was put up." ~Robert Frost, poet from Vermont.

Wild Geese Flying

A few flocks of timid Canadian geese have begun to fly South; their honking echoes reach our ears through the chilly air, and mark the beginning of Fall. The geese always serve as a signpost to the changing seasons of Spring and Fall, because they never stick around. They always pass through-- escaping the cold in one season, and the heat in the other. I was thinking recently about how the seasons here do not blend-- the most distinct characteristic of where we live is, in fact, the changing of the seasons...

This 'n That

It has been far too long since my last post! The cool Autumn breezes are now advancing, and splashes of red accent the hillsides. Before long we'll be huddled around the cozy wood stove sipping hot tea... (I can hardly wait!) :-)

My family and I enjoyed going to the FCC family conference so much this August. We benefitted greatly from all the sermons, and the fellowship was (and is) so encouraging. At the conference, I tried each day to decide which was my 'favorite' sermon, and seemed to always be the last one I'd heard! My favorite now, I think, is the first one preached, by Gavin Beers, titled "Christ Ridiculed" (I didn't listen to it 'til after arriving home!). Mr. Beers exposed elements of Christ's crucifixion that are truly awesome, terrible, and humbling to consider... One thing I had never thought about before, but amazed me, is how God used the words of wicked men (and words from the Psalms) to confirm that Jesus was indeed the Christ. Everything was prepared and orchestrated by God in such a way that the evidence was right there-- obvious to anyone who could see. Only, their eyes were closed... "For God has committed them all to disobedience, that He might have mercy on all. Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!" Romans 11:32, 33.

After coming home from the conference, it seems we have been caught in a whirlwind again...

There has been much harvesting-- wild berries and apples, and produce from our garden, projects begun, problems to solve, and family and friends to see. Just two days ago, with help from family and friends, we butchered a huge water buffalo and put it in the freezer (more later about this!). It was one of the longest, most satisfying days I have ever experienced... *sigh*

I best get to bed, before I start writing incredibly boring thoughts that no ears (or eyes) but mine should know. Hopefully I will write more interesting details of life sooner than a month from now!

Goodnight.

A Dewy Walk

This morning the mist fell so thickly that I had trouble finding Darcey in the field to milk her. The prolonged dew from the mist dressed up everything with 'crystals', though. :-)

Thistle is a weed, but so pretty!!

Buttercups

Goldenrod is considered a weed-- but it smells SO GOOD!