More progress, troubles, and the next week

We are working on the connection between the house and the barn. We moved some solar powered lights from the front, where they don't do much good, to the back. In midwinter, I won't kill myself heading out to the ponies in the dark. J is building an arch out of the cuttings from our trees. It has taken a little playing around, some false starts, and pounding a form into the ground, but it's looking really nice, i think!

And in other news, a rat-bastard, s.o.b., evil, weaselly, hunchbacked, even-i-don't-have-enough-swear-words piece of crap god-damned skunk or fox or raccoon dug under the chicken coop and slaughtered our baby chicks. It was a creepy, 'unnatural' act. Eight had their hearts eaten, and were sucked dry of blood. One was a bag of skin and bones, and one was missing. All the little corpses were 'buried' in a hole, with one of the nest boxes dragged over them. The wanton destruction and waste is specifically enraging, in a way that I barely have words for. We buried their little bodies, and stood over them a while, feeling sorry for not doing a better job; for not taking better care; for not seeing it coming. And I feel, somehow, like I really, truly recognize evil for the first time. If the creature showed up in front of me this minute, I would wring it's neck with glee. And then bury it next to my wasted chicks. And then I would probably feel awful. Because I wasted it. And it wouldn't help. And it wouldn't change anything. All the little live things, with their hearts eaten out, and their blood drained, and all their little peeps silenced forever, just when they were learning what the Sun was about. I am just sick and heartbroken and keep feeling their weight in my hands, as I moved them out of one hole and into another.

And we thought hard about our vacation, which begins tomorrow. But we couldn't stop the carnage, even when we were here. so we will go, and maybe heal up a little before we come home. We are off to go hiking in Goblin Valley, Capitol Reef, Grand Gulch and Valley of the Gods. Red rock loosens the muscles at the back of my eyes, and the person I am in the desert is a different person, with access to a part of me that's usually asleep. Sometimes a change is as good as a rest. I hope it's true this time.

Location:BWF