Change on the Ranch

Change on the Ranch

The meditation that I have been doing on Headspace these last days has been on Change. The concept is to allow space to not know, to tolerate uncertainty—mystery. In the meditation one is directed to witness shifts within the body and emotional self, realizing the connection. Focus is on the beginning and the end of an emotion while resting on the rise and fall of the breath within the body. Slowly one feels the rock of the inner witness.

Everything changes. That is true on our ranch as well. This year Donald and I are making big changes: we are living with a great deal of unknown, and it is uncomfortable, and exciting —and sad. This week Ramon, who has been with us for sixteen years, will finish pruning the grapes for the last time before he moves. We have much gratitude to him for the services that he has provided: not only his loving care of our grapes and aromatics, but also of our goats, our tricky driveway, and our larger ranch.

Our youngest son Casey, his wife Melissa, and their sons Wesley and Sabien have arrived and will live in the pioneer house by the road. They will help us with the aromatics and the ranch in general as we all dream into what will happen here next. (Yes, you guessed it! This is the exitement part!  Much grandma time!)  We have someone who will probably take over the grapes (more on this later). It is important to us that the ranch remain Biodynamic and organic— I will continue to tend it in these ways.

So send us your good thoughts and prayers as we navigate the mystery, trusting the path uncertainty and chaos afford. After all, didn’t Rudolf Steiner say that we are closest to the divine when we are in chaos? May we allow that process here, that our ranch’s highest purpose—its divinity— be served.