Turn Your Face Towards the Sun

Photo by Chad Minnick

Our sunflowers are blooming! Many of them are taller than either of us and beaming their tremendous sunny yellowness. You can almost hear them shout "Summer!"

“Turn your face to the sun and the shadows follow behind you.”~ Maori Proverb

Process

This image speaks a lot about what we are learning here at North Star Hall. 

Those zinnias are growing in an old bucket, exactly where we found it when we moved in this spring. 

Where attention goes, energy flows and results show. An abandoned, rusted garbage-filled bucket is now home to an abundant bouquet of flowers. We made our choices, as a result fresh life is coursing into new places. 

If we don't water the zinnias, they die. Our ongoing attention is required. 

Someone else might have taken bucket and all and thrown it on the trash heap. For whatever reason, Chad and I decided to make it beautiful. A living "shabby and chic" experiment. 

We are already beginning to prepare for winter. This bucket teaming with blossoms will soon look like nothing more than an old dirty bucket again. A blank, fertile canvas. For several long, chilly months there will be no visible signs of life. What will we do with the bucket next year? 

Our garden is like that. Once crowded with weeds and thistles, it is beginning to come alive and be fruitful because we are putting our attention to it in the form of constant weeding, watering and fertilizing. 

The entire Grange experience has been one of choice, attention and flowing energy where we can, or at least where it makes sense at the moment. When we first looked at this place it was a cold, dusty gray rat and bat poop-filled musty old bucket of a building. We didn't know if the water or electricity would work. I obsessed for weeks if buying this place was the right thing to do. "What if it doesn't work? But it's a great price. It's a beautiful building rich with history. But what if it doesn't work out? What will we do? Should we go for it or should we walk away and save the trouble?"

I still feel somewhat obsessed over whether we should be doing this or not. I can't say it's been an easy process, or even always enjoyable. However, after months of attention the building is beginning to hum and vibrate with life. Everything feels warmer, more comfortable, more together. Right this second Chad is preparing one of our guest bedrooms for our first bed and breakfast guests. He invested several hours this morning getting hot and cold running water in two of our bathrooms! Every day sees new improvements. Our attention and choice to shine love on this land is beginning to pay off. Flow is occurring, we are enjoying more of the results we were looking for and worked hard to achieve. We have taken this fallow bucket of a building and are turning it into a thriving bouquet of Life. 

Thank you! 

Facing East

Our classroom, facing east:

We have a lot of work to do. We feel so lucky to have the space we do. I am excited to find some yoga partners! 

One of the images I posted this morning to our new Airbnb.com page: https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/3857454

Please feel free to share the Airbnb page on Facebook, or with anyone you consider to be any mix of bright, happy, creative, motivated and that you think would vibe with our North Star world. Thank you! 

Wild Turkeys

I wouldn't consider myself a great wildlife photographer. Aside from the gear, wildlife photographers enjoy a great deal more patience than I. Nonetheless, these first two snaps excite me because this turkey family was in our yard, pecking for food and chilling out near the cool spray of the sprinkler. The second reason these excite me is simply because I used my camera gear for a shoot this weekend and it was ready to go...the way camera gear should be! When I came around the corner of the building and saw this family, I snuck backwards into the house, grabbed my camera, switched to the telephoto lens really quick and ran back outside to be with the turkeys. So simple and satisfying! 

This also points to the mixed blessing of having the animals discover our yard as a lush place full of food. Now we are back to warding off the deer and rabbits. 

I thought I'd throw in a couple more turkey snaps from this last winter at the canyon. This flock had maybe 30 turkeys, all of whom launched themselves into the cabin at roughly the same time. It was quite dramatic.