DRY CRIK Journal

Our perfect world, ahead of schedule - let
the horses water! Check-in with the black
Brown Bear in the meadow before you turn

them out. Rattlesnake will be in camp
‘round five to report upon our Character.
Let him be! Tell the children to be good

and careful, Quail will watch and keep
him honest. All we have to do is feed
our families, share with the Ravens

and get permission from Mountain Lion
to stay awhile before we start-in farming –
let him have some calves for his trouble,

for our presence, for this dream of ours,
this perfect world. Last night, it was cold
star breath on my face when I awoke from

the other side of space, that Great White
Light beyond that answers all things with
distant voices, glimpses of faces, leaking-in.

‘Listen to the Wind,’ they say. ‘Smell the storm’s
approach. Watch the animals, you may learn
something new – it’s all you need to know.’

                        after Richard Hugo’s “Three Stops to Ten Sleep”

Posted by John Dofflemyer at 7:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Joey & 'Cowboy'

Kathy Gould

Joey Armstrong, Kathy & Carl Gould

Carl Gould will be inducted into the Snaffle Bit Hall of Fame this week.

Posted by John Dofflemyer at 4:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It had to be tough in Los Angeles yesterday as 113 degree heat broke all-time records. Temperatures here on Dry Creek, 200 miles north, hovered around 100. Interestingly, for those who watch 30-day weather cycles, it was 113 here on August 26th.

Posted by John Dofflemyer at 3:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I’ve been holding down the fort this week, feeding, irrigating and making the rounds as new calves are hitting the ground. Robbin is in Reno at the Snaffle Bit Futurity with our neighbor, Jody Fuller, who has a horse entered there. Bob is gone to Belgium.

All that they do when they’re both home has been duly reemphasized. My pace is slow and methodical, too tired to write, or post much here. Looking across the canyon at home yesterday, I was reminded of Greg Brown’s ‘Living in a Prayer’.

Posted by John Dofflemyer at 5:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We experienced a welcome weather change on September 8th with a little rain.

Totals          4.94                          5.96                            5.33

* gauge checked at daylight whenever possible

Posted by John Dofflemyer at 4:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Posted by John Dofflemyer at 6:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

September 7, 2010
Greasy Creek

Posted by John Dofflemyer at 6:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The metaphor of the forest is thick
with shadows, fleeting spirits lurking
in textured detail of hairy bark and moss

fuzzed on the edge of town, of commerce,
of self-indulgence – it’s how we are. But
without the pocket gophers shaping boroughs

between rooted toes, or the screaming
scrub jays preening pine nut tresses,
we might not know how to survive.

Not far from here, Mountain Lion
sat down with all the animals to create
humans. No one can remember why.

Posted by John Dofflemyer at 6:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

If we could listen as well to our mother’s
mothers, pick a place that feels safe
away from the bunch, hidden from

the predators that work on our minds.
If we might be licked clean and hear
their heart's drum clearly in our own.

Posted by John Dofflemyer at 9:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

                with usura
                hath no man a painted paradise on his church wall
                         - Ezra Pound (“With Usura” Canto XLV)

Bent beside furrows like rivers boiling
from beneath the skirts of the first orange
tree, we set free regattas of twigs and leaves,

before mud-dams rechanneled our father’s water
for scrap, two-by-four barges hauling freight.
We explored cobwebbed corners of the barn,

played pretend aboard dusty wagon seats,
took turns driving winged steeds into
dancing particles afloat in the splintered

sunbeams. Flame in the cave, our shadows
flicker on the wall, dancing like cathedral
angels from paradise - the places we shape

beyond the grasp of governments and time,
beyond the baited traps of the same insatiable
perchmates: Mrs. Greed and Mr. Power.

Posted by John Dofflemyer at 12:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

My congratulations to all who had a part in putting this short film together. It makes home in the San Joaquin Valley richer for everyone. My apologies that the link below begins with a short advertisement, but well worth your endurance and patience.

http://www.imdb.com/video/wab/vi4257220121/

Posted by John Dofflemyer at 6:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)