The Smell of a Barn

First things first...

I know anyone with a barn full of critters right now

is either going to be rolling their eyes

or be jaw-dropped & dumb-founded.

I am fully aware of my abnormalities:)

(You can read more about the Barn Quilt Block right here.)

But...

growing up, any time I was stressed, anxious,

mad, worried, or upset, I would go muck out the barn.

That was just my therapy.

Nobody would bother me,

probably for fear that I would either stop

or put them to work too.

So I had physical & productive work

while I sorted through whatever the issue was.

The labor, the sound of the fork and my breath,

the smell, and in the end, the accomplishment

all worked together.

I remember when I first went off to college

and had a stressful day/week whatever,

I drove around looking for barns

wondering if I knocked on the stranger's door

and asked to clean their barn 

if they would have me arrested or put in a white room

with a 'special' white jacket to wear.

I never had the nerve to ask.

Life of course is not without its issues.

I have been helping care for an elderly couple

who mean a great deal to me.

Over the past 6 weeks,

3 of them have been spent in the ER.

I am not saying this for sympathy or kudos,

but I still don't have a barn to muck out.

I'm pretty sure when you see a big old picturesque barn,

the first thing running through your mind is not

"If only I had a pitch fork and wheelbarrow."

It's kinda peculiar how the habits

we form growing up stay with us throughout life.

I think we need those things.

Now I usually go out and play with a chainsaw,

weed wacker, pruners, shovel, etc.

Do you have a (therapy) habit like that?

Until next time,

Nimble Fingers and Even Stitches