My Herd

I'm writing this entry on January 1, 2013.  The past year was so eventful I can hardly think straight and I'm certainly not prepared to make any real announcements about my plans for 2013.  But I will say this.  In the past few days, I turned 49 years old and something that I know is true is that I'm a horsewoman.  I love my herd.  I love what horse have brought into my life.  I love Hailee, Violet, and Renny, and Snowflake.  I love what I've learned about what matters from the way they treat me as a herdmate and the way they accept me into their lives.  Namaste.

Violet Turns 10!

Beautiful Hard-Working Violet!

From the moment Violet entered my life, my world has gotten more pleasant and wonderful.  She's been an elegant kind loving filly from the very first moment.  She's just a treasure.  And she wants to please me and counts on me.  She has wonderful manners and a sweet work ethic and she's charming and decent to all.  And this year, I can hardly believe it, but she's turning 10 years old!  I'm writing this entry on January 1, so she is officially 10 today, but her real birthday is International Women's Day, March 8, 2003.  May you all be blessed with a charming loving loyal companion like I have in Violet.  Violet makes me just so proud to be part of Team Tenderness.

Violet Brings Her Best Heart

These photos are from July, 2012 and I'm writing this entry on January 1, 2013.  This summer Violet had training from Kelsey and over Thanksgiving and Winter Breaks, she got more training from Emily.  Violet has really improved so much and expanded her skill sets.  This summer when I asked Kelsey to train Violet, I asked her to help her learn her lead changes.  And Kelsey got on her right away that day and Violet walked off and just started banging out lead changes, badabing!  Now she'll even give them to me with ease and grace.  And this winter Emily is working on helping Violet be precise in good pace and relaxed as she does the lead changes, so she doesn't rush them.  I do love my girl.  I love her sweetness, kindness, and intelligence!

Renny Has a Scare

Cool Pony!

I'm writing this entry on January 1, 2013, but the photo and video are from Renny's summer training on August 3rd, 2012 with his friend, Kelsey.  He was such a wonderful hardworking pony this past summer. I loved his great brave heart and good work ethic.  But then in November, I scared him.  I was taking a private riding lesson with Jill and I was nervous beforehand.  I saw a cat walk behind the kickwall, so I stupidly walked behind the kickwall and followed that cat the entire circuit around the arena.  Jill was holding Renny and she commented to me that Renny was scared and I prepared to leave from behind the kickwall, but she told me that he needed to work on it. I should have used my better judgement.  By the time I got out, he was a one-trial learner.  He went from being my rock solid pony who NEVER was worried about anything to someone who learned that the kickwall wasn't a wall, that there were things behind it.

So, for the past two months, we've been working diligently to try and give him courage and get him to stop worrying about ghosts and monsters.  He's got his mama's speed and swiftness and intelligence, so it's important that we get him over this bump, so he can be a safe wonderful ride for me and children.  I've been working with him, as has Larissa and Kelsey, two fine wonderful young riders.  I hope to have many wonderful rides on Renny in the new year, but as I write this entry on January 1st, I am considering sending him to an A-circuit farm for further training and eventual sale.  But I want to keep him, so let's hope for better days!

My Candidates!

In the top photo, you see me with Angela Zimmann and Kelly Wicks, my top candidates in this year's election.  And then in the bottom two photos, you see me celebrating at the Clazel Theater where all the local Townie Dems came to watch the returns and celebrate President Obama's victory!  In the bottom photo, the young man with the newsboy cap is the Field Director of our local Obama Headquarters who would feed me sheets of calls to enter in as data.  I will always volunteer for presidential campaigns after the fun of this one.  And I'm going to the inauguration in January as well!!

My Garden Bounty!

At a certain point each summer, my garden becomes a thing of beauty and sustenance.  Take for example this photo.  I had just washed my first Farmers Market Concord grapes and stepped out into my garden to pull some nasturtiums to enjoy their peppery taste with the ripe grape taste.  This was a happy soul-nourishing meal!

My Union Struggles!

A little over two years ago, our faculty voted to have an AAUP Union -- the BGSU-Faculty Association.  We've been waiting for a contract ever since.  In January, I will have to pay dues for a third year without still having a contract.  I have not had a raise in over 5 years and we've had a frozen salary for over three years now.  I'm tired.  I can't keep up with the rising cost of food, energy, utilities, clothes, gas, and even board -- my board jumped 20% since May and I'm writing this entry in December.  Something's gotta give.  As an aside though, in this last photo, you see a leader of the AFL-CIO who came to speak with our faculty and lend us support!  It was very exciting to hear his observations.

My Beautiful Art Pony!

This summer I commissioned a piece of art by Jil Johnson, a woman who uses natural materials and fabrics to create life-filled objects.  She made this moveable pony art to celebrate Epona!  I have it on my dining room buffet table, so I can glance over at it when I am on the computer, eating, or simply having my morning coffee!

My Political Yard in Fall

I was very excited to get my Angela Zimmann yard sign and almost immediately after, Kelly Wicks brought me one of his.  And then, of course, the moment they were available, I got President Obama's sign!  I felt very proud of my political signs.  And I was also proud that Zelia helped me yet again with keeping a nice clean well-raked yard!  She's such a good puppy!

Volunteering for President Obama's Campaign

This Fall I signed up to help with President Obama's campaign.  I signed up and forgot.  And then one day, the young man who worked on his campaign called me and asked if I would do data entry.  I laughed because I knew I would be the very best data entry person on earth for President Obama.  And I was! I remember how pleasant it was to drive the short distance to the Obama Field Office and pick up my call sheets and then go home, light a candle, and enter data!  I was so proud to be a part of his victory this year!

Seeing President Obama!

This Fall during the Presidential campaign, President Obama came to our Stroh Center at the BGSU campus.  Danielle and I were among the very first people who were waiting for tickets and we went to the big event.  It was so exciting that I cried.  I was really glad that I went with her because it was an amazing experience and fun to share with a good friend.  His speech was terrific.  Several of my students were working on his campaign and got to spend a few minutes with him before his talk.

Life is Blessed!

Namaste.

Thelma and Louise Embrace Happiness

Here's a random happy photo Katie sent me of my girls out with a stroll with a friend of theirs and their rooster.  You can see that they feel happy safe and secure with their arrangements.  You can see their rooster wants them safe.  Life is good.

Thelma and Louise's Other Farm Friends

Katie has a pregnant goat, Ivy, which she milks for her family.  And then she keeps some sheep too.  The small buff one is a little ram who is "visiting" the girls for a few months.  The farm will also get busy in the Spring, Summer, and Fall with poultry and pigs for food.  My girls are on an active organic farm!  They will be delivering up big brown eggs as part of their job on this new farm!  I'm so happy.

Thelma and Louise Meet New Friends

I left Saturday morning after dropping off my girls.  It was an amazing experience.  When Katie opened the hen house door, her girls just streamed into the yard.  They have their run of the place.  My girls joined Buff Orpingtons, Rhode Island Reds, Ameracaunas, and Delawares.  They live with about 20-30 hens.  And they will be senior girls.  I was nervous when I left them because they showed no interest in even going near the door, let alone leave.  But then one day, Katie posted the following message to my facebook wall:  "This morning, for the first time, when I opened the chicken house door, Thelma and Louise came running out with all the rest of the chickens. Last I looked, they were under that pine tree, pecking and scratching for bugs in the pine needles. Happy hens!"  My heart raced with happiness.  And then another time, she posted on December 14th, right before Christmas:  "Thelma and Louise are starting to feather out again. There's no question that, with their Jersey Giant height, when they're fully re-feathered they will be the Grand Dames of the farmyard. They've also been fully accepted into the flock--this morning they were right up at the feeder with Audacity and Buffy." This last post made my heart rest.  I felt the weight of the past 20 months fall away.  I felt the worry leave my body.  

Thelma and Louise Meet Del!

This fabulous fellow is Del Biden, Thelma and Louise's own rooster!  My old girls get a young rooster to be their caretaker and boyfriend in their golden years.  This turn of events pleases me no end.  As the drama was unfolding, after I asked Katie and Michael to be my backup plan, Del Biden facebook befriended me -- a rooster with his own facebook page.  I had assumed that it was just a cool farm friend of theirs, but I was just floored to discover that Del was actually living on their farm!  Such good happy news!

Thelma and Louise's New Home

Katie and Michael's farm is beautiful.  They have a wonderful strong well-built barn with a green tin roof.  Their home is a large farmstead. They have a kitchen building which is Katie's office.  And a garage.  They have an outbuilding which could serve as a very large run-in shed.  And they have, among other smaller buildings, their hen house.  Here is Thelma and Louise's new home -- their own hen house with white fence.  Inside this well-equipped home are little nesting boxes stacked on each other, so the girls can either nest on the ground or in a higher rise.  They can have actual roosts.  Or they can even fly up to a variety of second floor barn type levels, if they want to be in the rafters.  It's a wonderful space.  And they will have about 20-25 hen friends and a beautiful rooster.  Outside of this hen house are many bushes and large bushy pine trees and at least two separate garden yard spaces with trees.  My girls ended up liking the pine trees plenty well.  

And here is Katie herself -- a woman I admire.  She's a brilliant scholar but also wants to be the change she wants to see in the world.  So, she is busy planting guilds of fruit trees around her property, and growing a wide selection of herbs, berries, and vegetables.  This year, she expects to share a Farmers Market stall with a friend and sell her produce.  It's just the perfect place for my girls.  They get to live with educated kindhearted hardworking people who care about environmental sustainability and animal companions.  It's amazing!!!

Thelma and Louise Arrive at Night

So, I arrive at night at this farm outside of Champaign, Illinois, after a long but uneventful ride with my beautiful girls.  And I'm greeted by two little girls in velvet dresses and a kind loving couple that I know as friends.  they have this beautiful farm.  And so, we put the carrier into the hen house and open the cage.  My girls don't come out.  It's dusk turning to night.  And most of the hens are beginning to slow down and settle, but several step out to greet my girls.  And Katie and Michael point out to me Del, up in the rafters -- their Delaware rooster.  I'm floored.  I'm just astounded.  My girls are not only going to have safety and love and care, they are going to have hens and a rooster.  I couldn't quite relax yet, but I definitely did over dinner.  Michael transferred my girls to their own little roost, so they wouldn't have to pass the night in their carrier.

Michael prepared a wonderful Indian dinner with treasures from their own farm.  Katie has been learning how to garden and how to raise and process livestock.  She's putting in fruit trees and preparing fences and tending sheep.  She processes chickens and pigs.  She keeps a goat for milk.  She has a farm life.  And my girls get to live there too now.  

While I ate that wonderful dinner, Katie told me about how they had backyard hens too -- how they had done exactly what I did -- check out the messed up ordinances in our town, get their hens, and then receive a citation.  And how Michael went to the city building and said that he would be happy to meet with the city attorney at the city's billable hours to discuss how the city is in error about the legality of hens.  And he told me that it really is a matter to the courts because the ordinances are a mess -- that the original intention of the two residential ones clearly defines hens as animal companions, pets, not agricultural animals.

But I didn't have any more fight to try and keep my hens. It was all I could do to drive them from Ohio to Illinois.  So, I enjoyed cocktails, wine, a wonderful meal, great conversation, and fellowship with kind people.  And I slept like a baby deeply and well in a beautiful room with a 19th century feel in an old farm house on a beautiful piece of property.

And the next morning, I laid in bed with two sweet little girls, read children's stories, had spectacular coffee and a great meal with farm bacon and visited my girls.  Here they are on their first morning, looking uncertain, a bit ragged from molt, but unafraid.  I didn't cry, though I wanted to.

Thelma and Louise go on a Big Adventure

And so, on a Friday in late November after Thanksgiving, I packed my hens into a carrier, put them in the front seat with me, and drove them 374 miles to Mahomet, Illinois...to an organic farm with friends. Because my hens deserve the very best.  If they can't live with me, they have to live in a better place.  And here's what I learned from my girls on the one and only road trip I ever took with them:  They are wonderful travel companions.  They were just great.  They sat quietly, dozed, sang songs to each other, preened, groomed each other.  When I stopped, they stretched and sipped water.  When I fed them, they ate.  They were just lovely traveling companions.  And they would peer up at me quizzically, but with trust.  That long day traveling, I fell in love with them even more.

The Sanchez Herd Says Good Bye to Hens

As I said, the Fall was sort of brutal.  The sub-committee was biased by their relationships with landlords in our town.  The planning commission voted unanimously against.  The mayor and city attorney worked to kill the plan for backyard hens.  And I was sad and tired.  But I felt safe because I knew my hens were going to Katie and Michael.  I turned all of my energies toward trying to think of a safe quiet relaxed way to bring them to their new home.

So, I was pretty quiet the day that they were to leave.  I had bought a large carrier for them filled it with straw, and packed their belongings.  And on the last day, I had coffee and conversation with our new friend, Jennifer K.  And Christine and Frances came by to say hello and offer love.  Our last morning together at 202 W. Reed was sweet and quiet and filled with fellowship.

Beautiful Beautiful Social Activists

Zelia and Her Companions

Here are my girls toward their last days with me.  They had begun to have their winter molt -- which I always think is weird, but it's what they do - so they don't look super beautiful.  But they are beautiful to me.  I used to love to say hello to them and good night!  Zelia was always a very good companion to those girls.  I hope Zelia won't be lonely without them.

Our Quiet Last Few Days

It's weird how things work out.  Back in Fall 2005, I had an accident with Hailee.  And then I went to Spain on pilgrimage and Rua spoke to me and said to adopt Violet.  And then I bumped my head against the statue of Master Mateo and he told me to start living as I should.  And then I started my garden.  And raised Renny.  And got hens.  And then all of this led me to my first political fiasco ever!  

But the weird part is that when I got that letter in May 2011, I knew how it would end.  I just had this presentiment that I would have to give up my beautiful girls.  That I was not wrong. That I should be able to keep them.  But that for their safety, they would have to go. So, I made sure that each day, I cared for and loved them as best I could.  And I touched their feathers with love and care.  And I spoke words of love and praise to them.  And I enjoyed gardening with them and sharing time with them.  And I made sure I appreciated our times together.  Those are the memories of my last days with them.  Memories of love.

A Green Circle

I met some really remarkable people, during this process.  I met Karen Woods and her husband who are strong advocates for environmental sustainability.  Karen works to help people start bee colonies, among other things.  And I met Jennifer K. who works at BGSU.  She's a thoughtful kind vegan who is a neighbor.  She befriended me and on the morning Thelma and Louise had to leave, she came over for coffee and brought me a cake which I ate on the drive and some chard for my girls' last BG breakfast.  I met people who who lent so much heart to me and my girls.  And so, Christine felt that we should do something to capture our energy.  We lost in our efforts to get a backyard hen ordinance, but we could work on maybe being more charitable.  So, in the Spring, we hope to set up a group which will have an education and service commitment which focuses on social issues we care about.  I'm very proud of my friends.

Our New Greener, Sweeter Friends

So, after that November 19th meeting, when it was clear that the Mayor and city attorney and the H*kels and Mr. C*nnell were determined to kill the hen ordinance and it was clear that a city council person was willing to speak poorly of me in public, I no longer felt I could keep my hens safe.  So, I got ready to take them to Mahomet, Illinois to live on an organic farm.  I had that as a backup plan from the very beginning.  Katie, and her husband, Michael, lived in Bowling Green.  She was a Professor in my department and a strong advocate of environmental sustainability and eco-gardening.  And she had backyard hens.  Her husband is a Manhattan lawyer who is so successful he can telecommute.  At any rate, they found our town too provincial and small-minded, so they left academia and moved to Mahomet to begin an organic farm.  They were kind and said they would keep Thelma and Louise, if they ever needed a home.

So, after that horrible meeting, I went to Texas to spend Thanksgiving with my family.  And then I came home and prepared to bring my girls to Mahomet.  They had only known my home and never another, so it was very hard to be getting ready to take them to someplace new.  But let me tell you, after what happened with Coy Moyers and Maurice Robinson, it was a real blessing to know that my animal companions would be safe.