The Joy Of Moving Manure

Manure was just what I needed today.

That big pile that I’ve been feeding all winter, the one that got so messy for a while early in the spring, today I really appreciated it.

Unlike so much of life, manure is very direct. It leaves the animal and fertilizes the ground so the grass they just ate will grow back again.

If anything complicates it, it’s me (we humans are good at complicating things). I keep moving it around.  But even then, it’s a pretty simple process.  Just a matter of scooping it up and putting it someplace else.

I had lots of company while moving the manure.   The sheep and donkeys of course, but also, Fate, Zinnia, Zip and a couple of Ravens who kept circling above us.

I needed the simplicity of spreading manure today.

Such satisfaction each time I took a shovelful from the big pile in the barn yard and filled up the wheelbarrow.  Without having to even think about it,  I took it to the back pasture, dumped it on the ground and spread it around with the rake.

Each time I went back to the pile of manure it’s smaller, and each time I bring some out to the pasture there is more ground covered.

Instant gratification.

I was just about done for the day when I looked up and there was Jon coming down the hill.  Zip was walking beside him and when the dogs saw him, they ran to say hello.

The only thing I didn’t do was take a before and after picture of the manure pile.  But most of you have been seeing it all winter.  And I’ll be sure to point out its absence in my Monday Morning Video tomorrow.

Now I’m pretty tired, but also have a sense of great accomplishment.