I didn't exactly choose to retire from academic life: like many others, because of the recession, my job was cut. It was inevitable. Yet, what is the recession but an indication that we need to change, to do something different.




Here, on the farm, the situation was very much the same. The market for wine had been destroyed, meat products successively banned and our forests burnt so that it was obvious that we could no longer leave the future to unfold in traditional terms. The renewal that must take place is in our hands alone.




And so like those before us, we take the bull by the horns, confident that we can not only benefit from the force of circumstances, prepared to play and get tossed into the air, but also land safely on the ground and secure events and prosperity for those around us.




And looking around, it is clear that the force is with us:-)

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Today I was out mulching, which means cutting up the undergrowth in the forest fine so that the energy and nutrients become available in the soil and, thus, become food for the trees. Similarly, I will prune some trees and coppice others, extending desired growth on the one hand and revitalizing growth on the other. Of course, this takes a lot of work and energy some of which is not renewable. So let's say there is a way to only use renewable energy – no machines or fuel AND make the process more efficient. 

That is what horses do when they munch undergrowth, for they also add enzymes that speed up the decaying process and make nutrients available much faster. However, there is a catch: the undergrowth needs to be in a palatable form for the horses to eat; it must be no more than two years old and, thus, tender. Similarly, trees less than two years old are liable to be eaten. So you have to get the balance right: young undergrowth and old trees. Hence, next year, enter the horses: no more mulching, just munching – horsepower at its best.

 
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You read that 'attitude' is the key that is turned by trust, respect, honesty, humility, integrity, and authenticity when it comes to horses. But these are simply by-products.




These are not the vision. It is much simpler. It is about organic transformation – a transcending horse power which permeates from the micro cellular level to macro

level of human consciousness, an emerging meeting of our souls into a new dimension of well being.  We struggle to find it, but it moves and empowers us.

 
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We are groping around in the dark, searching for the next paradigm shift. Just like the foal waiting to be born, but it will be born... And what is the next paradigm shift, but a throw-back to an earlier way of thinking that was successful but has been largely discarded. It is what I call Celtic or both/and-thinking. We have this peculiar expression which says, you can't have your cake and eat it: that choosing one thing excludes another. But what sense does that have in terms of a cake? Clearly, it is there to nourish and be nourishing.




Both/and thinking means, therefore, by choosing one thing, it permits you to benefit not only in terms of close options but other ones as well. Being yourself in a crowd, gives purpose to the collective, adding benefit to you and others and making possible other objectives as well. So rather than seeing specialization as fragmented thinking it becomes part of the big picture and life today as well as tomorrow.




Thinking like this, you don't feel alone; you don't feel the urge to fill yourself with everything possible and grab and hold as much around you as you can in a forever failing attempt to create a feeling of security. Instead, you choose not to drown in a materialist sea of things:  you feel secure in your relationship to others, secure in the knowledge that you are part of the greater good, secure in a process of joyful expectation. Like the foal here about to be born.

 
See for yourself!!!
 
What we need is more people who specialize in the impossibleTheodore Roethke. I couldn't agree more, for, otherwise, how on earth will we be here tomorrow! So you are wondering,  how do you recognize the impossible? Well, you have to understand that by creating a certain set of circumstances, the seemingly impossible becomes possible. For example, take our 'screen house'. Screen house? Most people will see a shade house. However, on closer inspection, you will find that it is far from shady inside but rather quite bright. What it does is  filter out damaging rays of light so that plants can reach a stage of maturity to tolerate full sun light. The secret is in the type of netting.
 


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In a previous post on 24/1/2010, I mentioned that camellias are a form of super rose in the north of Portugal. However, they have other surprising characteristics as well. Because they originate from China and Japan, the time they flower was determined by the seasons in that part of the globe. Hence, they flower in our winter and spring from November through to April - namely, in our darkest months, and so they lighten that darkness more powerfully than any native flower! You see, Theodore Roethke revealed a fundamental truth, "Deep in their roots, all flowers keep the light." Come 'see' for yourself!
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A lively understandable spirit Once entertained you. It will come again. Be still. Wait. - wrote Theodore Roethke  .... Clearly, Theodore had an inner spirit in mind, but there are others that awaken the first. As I look out at our horses, I see the Holy Trinity and mine is filled with their amazing grace.

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Do you remember that line in a romantic song? Either way, we understand that, even though the wish was there, its realization was never possible. And much is the case concerning roses in our climate in Portugal. The heat reduces the flowers to fallen petals in a moment. Yet we have a need to express our passions just the same. Today, it is often forgotten how the incredibly courageous Portuguese set sail in their little wooden ships to discover routes to the unknown parts of the globe and answers to their everyday existence. Well, you have probably guessed by now that one of the plants they brought home from China and Japan were Japanese roses or camellias.

But camellias are no shadows of roses; they are much hardier and grow into wonderful flowering trees lasting a hundred years or more. And, in this way, I CAN promise you the rose garden of your dreams - subtle, varying, colourful flowers with evergreen foliage and NO thorns!
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When we first started out there were a lot of fields that needed to be mowed regularly. Hence, I invested in some 'fun' lawn mowers that were child's play to drive and work with. In fact, the idea was to make the task child's play and not something arduous. However, grass grows and keeps growing, and our mowers were often hard put to keeping up with it. In addition, the price of petrol (or gas) kept rising and not all our fields are flat and our bones were getting shaken apart. And what about the countless hours spent mowing!

Well, things have changed. Enter horses! No need to mow, no need to spend enormous sums of time and money. We have put the lawn mowers out to pasture!

horses, camellias, paradigm shift, perspective, innovation,