Answering the Call

A friend’s help

Answering the Call

My telephone alerted me to an incoming call.  I looked down to see who it was and felt a warm rush through my chest as soon as the name flashed on the screen.  Because of my relationship with the caller I expected to have a pleasant conversation.  It didn’t start out that way.

“I feel completely overwhelmed!” echoed the voice channeling through my phone’s speaker.

While those were not the words I expected to hear when I answered the call, I was struck by their timing.  I had been struggling with similar feelings earlier in the week.  Happily when I had made a similar call to a friend he stepped up and answered the call!

I reached out for help when a maintenance issue had reached its breaking point.  I was completely overwhelmed and didn’t know what to do.  So, I picked my phone sent a text message to friend asking for help.

Help came almost immediately, even though my friend has a thriving business and is very busy.  He dropped everything and called me back.  We talked for briefly.  He called another friend and then got back to me saying, “Can you spend time with me this afternoon so I can help you?”

He helped me find a solution and spent three hours working with me that very day!  It was late in the evening before I was able to fill his truck with fuel as a small gesture of thanks.

Now I was making another small gesture of thanks by focusing back on the voice speaking with me on the current call.  I was listening and offering an empathetic ear.  In this case that was all I could do.  And, surprisingly, it was enough.  I was glad I answered the call.

Answering the call is more than just touching a screen.  It’s making yourself available to make a difference in the lives of friends and neighbors.  It’s the difference between simply living somewhere and being part of a community.  Each one of us has a unique and critical place to fill in our community.

Perhaps you’re reading this and feeling small.  You may be thinking, “I don’t having anything to give.”

Answering the call doesn’t mean you need to give money or even have extraordinary talent.  It means being genuine, kind and caring to everyone.  It means becoming a conduit for civility and goodness.  It means accepting the opportunity to feel a warm rush in your chest and passing it on to another, the person whose call you answered.

Pruning Time

Annual Vineyard Pruning

Pruning Time

It was hard to see.  So, he pushed his large, fuzzy, black head between the fence slats for a better look.

“Oh, you came to say hello?”  I said as I walked over to rub the protruding head.

My steers were curious.  They hadn’t seen me working in my vineyard for more than six months.  Now that neglect had come to an end!  It was vineyard-pruning time.

Now that most of my vines are several years old they’re beginning to have large trunks serving as an engine of growth.  When I began to prune I admired their size and strength and I could see last year’s growth all tangled along the trellis system.  It was astonishing and a little overwhelming so, I started to prune at the top, just about at my eye level.  Then, I worked methodically down each plant, right down to the base of each trunk, learning valuable lessons as I progressed.

I thought you might enjoy hearing the lessons I learned during my pruning time.

Take time to recognize growth.  It’s easy to live day by day without noticing the power of accumulated progression.  We’re all taking in experience and knowledge as we go about daily activities.  Yet, sometimes it feels as if the lessons you and I are learning are so overwhelming that we haven’t made any personal progress.  If you’ve been neglecting an accounting of your progress make sure to stop for a few hours and make a note of the person you’ve grown to be.  It will fill you with satisfaction and help you reclaim your desired path.

Realign your growth objectives.  I’ve taken the time to create a defined path of growth for the plants in my vineyard.  I did this so I could maximize output, the number of grapes produced.  Pruning is a necessary process to make sure the vines stay on the path I’ve created for them.  The personal goals you’ve created for yourself act as the same kind of “trellis” guide.  The annual pruning ritual allows me to cut away the old growth, sometimes gone wildly astray, so I can redefine the path and create opportunity for new, vigorous and prolific production.   Use your personal pruning time to redefine your goals.  It will create a strong base and naturally open the path for new opportunities to come to you.

Pay attention to your base.  When I prune my vines I make sure to go right down to the base of the trunk.  I do this because even though I pruned the year before, I often find undesirable shoots coming right out of the base of the trunk.  Such shoots aren’t part of my designed trellis system so they don’t fit in with my plans.  This year I found a couple of large shoots that had been snaking along the ground hidden by taller grass.  I clipped them off at the base and cleared the grass away.  Unwanted shoots and unruly grass rob the whole vine of needed water and oxygen.  A strong trunk, base, cleared of competing growth will allow planned growth to take advantage of all the nutrients produced by the plant’s roots.  Use your pruning time to focus on your base and then remove competing distractions.  It will pave the way for your planned growth to flourish.

My vineyard has been flourishing!  I knew that to be the case, but until I had invested the time to do my annual pruning I really didn’t understand to what extent!  At the end of the day I stood next to a huge pile of detached vines now removed from their trunks.  I looked at the pile and then looked back at the curious heads poking between the fence rails.

“Wow!  The growth from last year is amazing!”  I said to those supportive steers.  They simply looked back, fluttered their ears a little and licked their snout before walking away to focus on the new growth grass laid out before them. 

Moosages About Fear

A leash chasing its dog

Moosages About Fear

My Welch Corgi and I were walking toward the barn on a cool, quiet morning on our way to feed.  The cows were hungry, I could tell as soon as we approached. They began to tell us all about it as we advanced toward them.  

Moos were floating on the air as we walked past the cows on our way toward the hay barn.  Merlin’s leash handle was held firmly in my hand.  “Harry Pupper,” was pulling hard on his tether and I could see his broad, muscular chest heaving forward, pulsing under the pressure of his harness right up until we got to the barn door.

When the barn door was pulled open it made a loud screeching sound.  So, its offensive song caused Merlin to pull back in fear and then bolt.  All of a sudden the leash handle was no longer firm in my hand.  It blew past the shrieking metal door and began its dog chase.

The faster Merlin ran, the more he became convinced that he could never shake his pursuer, never realizing that he was being chased by his own fear.  It took me a long while before I was able to catch up to him and put his self-imposed pursuer back under my firm control.  We walked back to the barn together.

Merlin felt safe and comfortable when surrounded by the stacks of hay filling the barn.  He settled in, I scooped up some hay; left Merlin stretched out securely on a bed of fodder, and walked out to feed my hungry cows. That’s when I realized what they were teaching me about dealing with fear.

The lesson began as soon as I awkwardly thrust their breakfast over the corral fence.  My lurching motion caught them by surprise and they instantly jumped back.  What they did next was in stark contrast to Merlin and his dog-chasing leash.

When surprised and antagonized, my cows took a step back and then stopped.  I noticed the way in which they stepped back. They kept their eyes firmly fixed on me.  This allowed them to begin to carefully assess the danger they were facing rather than running away in uncontrolled fear.  They were carefully determining the level of threat they faced.  They demonstrated an intriguing testing phase.

They didn’t rush back in.  They stood back for a few moments until they could evaluate what was coming next.  They held their ground and gathered their courage.  I watched as they moved their heads side to side while always looking forward.

They focused on determining when they could move forward safely again.  They didn’t run when they didn’t need to.  They only stepped carefully forward as soon as they could see it was the right thing to do.  When they did step forward it was done with a show of strength.

When they stepped, they came forward boldly.  Well, they appeared to come forward bravely, but they were faking it.  I could tell.  Anyone who doesn’t know them as I do would find their behavior confident and perhaps even intimidating.  They hid their fear and covered it with movement toward their ambition.

Cows don’t allow fear to rob them of their motivation and desire.  Even though they may be a little frightened they still move forward to enjoy a great breakfast.  They don’t allow their own imagination to chase them away from what they need and want.

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My Welch Corgi wasn’t being chased by his own imagination as we walked home to have our own breakfast.  I held his feared, dog-chasing leash firmly in my hand and as we strolled and I realized that I, too waste a lot of my life by being chased by my own imagination.  I could learn a lot from my cows.

Moosages of Trust

A ferocious storm

Moosages of Trust

The grass all around me was dark green, thick, and tall.  It should have been.  It was spring and the weather had provided an almost perfect pallet for ardent growth.  Some of that weather was now raining down on me in a torrent, driven by high winds.

The wind blew the leg of my trousers up just enough to cause a shiver from the striking of cold hail on my bare skin.  My pants were beginning to soak through.  My coat was beginning to soak through.  I was cold!  I knew my cows were cold as well.

The best way to keep cows warm and healthy in adverse weather is to keep them well fed.  That’s why I was out in this wild, grass promoting weather.  I wanted my cows to be as comfortable as possible.  The weather report had warned me that the worst was about to arrive.  At this very moment, drenched and icy, I was finding it hard to believe it could get much worse.

In such weather conditions cows can become quite skittish.  I’ve seen them race across a field in seconds or buck and jump as if to demonstrate a fervent defiance.  I’ve always found them to be passionate, curious creatures.  That’s why I was approaching them with exceptional caution at this stormy moment.

You might say I wasn’t throwing caution to the wind.  I had no desire to have eighteen hundred pounds of beef to launch me skyward to be ravaged by the wind like a rag doll.  After all, my largest steer is capable of bending a metal pipe, based in concrete, at his whim.  And, last I looked; I was still mostly skin and bone.  All of which, I wanted to remain in tact.

At the moment, I was still all put together; in tact, and the welcome I received by the steers was one of calm confidence.

As I walked into the hay barn calm enveloped me.  I was protected from the rain, wind, sleet and hail.  I lifted some hay and braved back into the torrent.  I wanted my furry friends to receive the same protection so I intended to feed them in a different than customary location.

I walked out.  They followed.  They ate comfortably.  They stayed within the protection offered.  Their behavior caused me to really consider the moosage they were giving me.  

Here is the communication my cows gave me about building and maintaining trust.

Be consistent.  I’ve tried to feed them at or near the same time and place twice, each day.  That’s why they were waiting for me at their feeding rack, even when the weather was dreadful.  They knew I’d come at that time, at that location.  They were so certain of it that they had left the protection of their warm, dry stable in advance of my arrival.  Consistency makes a difference, especially during times of adversity!

Bank your time.  Trust isn’t earned over a short period of time.  I’ve spent months and years with these cows.  They’ve been able to observe me over a long time.  So, they know I have their best interest at heart because I’ve proven it to them time and time again.  They could have been very upset because of the intemperate weather.  They could have run away or hurt me badly because of an imperfect circumstance, but they didn’t.  They knew I would lead them to safety, so the followed.  They had spent enough time with me to be certain of my motives.

Create a comfortable relationship.  I’ve worked to develop my relationship with these cows on many different levels.  The sound of my voice, my touch, my smell, my movements, the taste of their food have all become part of how we interact together.  When I approach them I call out in voice as a welcome.  When I’m close, I reach out and let them sniff my hand.  To reassure them, I rub their heads, sides, and backs.  I stand and do these things as they eat so they associate all of my movements with the pleasure of being fed.  I’ve made it comfortable for them to be with me.

You and I can use these same Moosages of Trust in all of our relationships.  If we will, those around us will enjoy a high level of confidence.  Remember to be consistent, bank your time and create a comfortable relationship.  It will be worth it; because all of us will need to endure many storms in life!