In trying times-BE THE LIGHT

Need to come sit at the pond's edge and decompress? Call me.

It's Saturday friends and my heart feels heavy in my chest. I wonder if you're feeling it too? 

Charlie Kirk was not someone I agreed with at all, but he was a human being. A husband and a father to two little kids. He was only 31 years old. 

Maybe it's hitting me so hard because tomorrow (I'm writing this on Thursday), Sept 12, would have been my mom's 79th birthday. Tomorrow would have been my heart mare Rayn's 13th "Gotcha Day" the day she came home to me. Sunday, Sept 14th would have been my Aunt Katy's 75th birthday. Everything is piled on right now, so maybe that's why Charlie Kirk's death is hitting me like this?

But maybe not. Yesterday I held my Women's Circle and most of the women were feeling the same thing, this heaviness over his death. 

I just feel sad. 

And equally as sad when I hear the spewing of hate on both sides of the political spectrum. The far left is screaming one thing, the far right is screaming something else (none of which I'm going to repeat), with both making it worse and worse and the rest of us are left in the middle, our "information silos" probably filled with a lot of puppies and kittens on repeat right now because we are all effing exhausted. 

It's all so much. It all hurts so much. 

Each person, not even each family, but each individual person is in their own information bubble, alone, watching "news" that has been curated to just them. It's the saddest I've been for humanity, well, ever really. How can this be our lives? How can people say these things to each other? How can there be so much hate?

I've seen all this and I'm barely on social media anymore. I post most days on Nextdoor, Facebook, and Substack and follow a few people (all art on Substack) on those platforms but mostly stay off. And yet I've already seen all this ugliness pop up. Imagine the people who fill their lives with news and what they're being flooded with.

In my Women's Circle, we don't really talk politics. These are old school groups even though our members range from 30 to 70 years old. When I say "old school" I mean that we all have more in common than not, each of us considers ourselves an empath (meaning we pick up on other's energy) and we are not all on the same side politically. 

GASP!

Did you know there are people who voted for Kamala who aren't socialists? Did you know that there are people who voted for Trump that believe in equal rights for all? 

I know, shocking isn't it? 

Remember when you could talk to someone one the other side of the aisle and, you know, have an actual conversation about life? 

Yep, still happening over here—with women who are kind, thoughtful, helpful, loving, compassionate. Women who have each other's backs.

If you're sick and tired of what's happening out there and feeling like it's all crumbling, consider coming to the ranch and fill yourself up with laughter (and yes, occasional tears because life is hard sometimes), ponies, kindness, mini donkeys, love, mini goats, tolerance, dogs, inclusiveness, the smell of the pond and the sweet autumn clematis, the sound of the breeze in the trees and the giant pampas grass fronds, and the sound of frogs and crickets and the geese flying in to land on the pond and settle in for the night. 

There are good things in the world.

Please leave your silo and come share your light with us.

We need each other.

Here are some ways to connect that are coming up. Would love to meet you, look into your eyes, and say, "Welcome to the farm, you're safe here💜"

AUTUMNAL EQUINOX MEDITATION WITH THE HERD
September 22nd
6:30—8:00pm
$20
Sunset is 7:10pm on the 22nd so think fairy lights, ponies, and mini donkeys! If you wonder what it's like here, this is a great time to come visit!
Call, text, or email to let me know you'd like to join this meditation.

TUESDAY MORNING WOMEN'S CIRCLE
Tuesday, Oct 14th
10:00am—1:00pm 
6 weeks (Oct 14, 21, 28 and Nov 4, 11, 18)
$210 is the total (half up front to hold your spot)
Call, text, or email to let me know you'd like to join the Tuesday Circle.

WEDNESDAY EVENING WOMEN'S CIRCLE
Wednesday, Oct 15th
6:00pm—9:00pm
6 weeks (Oct 15, 22, 29 and Nov 5, 12, 19)
$210 is the total (half up front to hold your spot)
Call, text, or email to let me know you'd like to be on the list. 

THE RANCH:

Do you see her peeking through the trees?

I let the goats out loose after putting the horses and donkeys in the upper pasture. They are so fun, call them and run, and they run with you!

A weird mushroom that from a distance looked kinda like a fried egg:

I wish I could bottle the smell of Sweet Autumn Clematis and send it to you guys:

My new ficus tree "Persephone" is inside now that the temps are dropping a bit. She doubled her leaves on the front patio, obviously loving the morning light so I decided she had to go here, as close to her original position as we could get :-) This ficus is magic, no dropped leaves, wow!

My freebie pumpkins I accidentally grew! Something started to eat one of them, so I cut them from their vines and will let them ripen on the front steps before giving them to the goats:

ART:

Besides the sad anniversaries this week and next, there are other happy ones to celebrate! A dear friend of mine has a birthday so I decided to send her some tiny watercolors of some of her dogs through the years. Here are a few:

Along with Rayn's Gotcha Day on September 12th, it is also Jaffee's the mini donkey's Gotcha Day and then September 16th, 2007—this was the day that B-Rad and I were told that we would be parents! 

3 month old baby ManChild:

So while there is sadness, there is also so much love to celebrate!

THE MEMES:

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This is an AI-free newsletter! While I love to use AI to help me figure out a piece of software I don't understand, my intention is to use it to help me with the drudgery, never with writing, art, creation. All em dashes are intentional and mine, I was using them way before ChatGPT was a twinkle in Sam Altman's eye :-)

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The Mother Ranch on YouTube.

The Mother Ranch art on Substack.

Thank you for reading :-)

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