Humbling moments

This past week has had challenges that have not painted a portrait of myself in beautiful colours. My portrait would have been more akin to a disjointed Picasso painting. Something ridiculous and inhuman. I am not proud of how I dealt with one stressor after another, as unrelenting as the second hand on a clock. But I have had the decency to be humbled by things with a higher IQ but an inability to reason.

One of the newest members to my farm is a little Freedom Ranger meat bird.  He arrived by post very cold, as all but three of these chicks did not survive the flight. He has had quieter quarters, food, water, and heat within his reach. He has had smaller chicks in with him to keep company and to encourage his appetite. They have all outgrown him and are not aware that he is unable to move easily. Now, he is alone, with a bolster around his body, food, water and warmth at his disposal, and not once has he murmured. He peeps sweet little peeps when I lift him out to change his nappy. He basks in the sunlight and drinks gratefully when I refresh his water jar. He chirps back when I talk to him. He is completely at my mercy for everything. And yet never complains. It's humbling to see such gratitude from a less than ideal situation.

I picked up two packages of bees today to install in my hives. As I walked away from the pickup point with my two buzzing boxes, I felt an overwhelming emotion of gratitude, awe, responsibility to provide for their well-being until the hive is strong enough to sustain itself. I was humbled by the 'trust' I was given to tend these bees. As I loaded them in the car and drove home, I felt speechless. As I opened the packages and introduced them to their new home, I whispered, 'I am your caretaker! Thank you for your hard work!' As I dumped them into the hive between the frames, the bees instantly grabbed on to the frames of previous years comb, I was awed and humbled that a thing so small could be scooped up by the thousands, introduced to a new Queen, a new caretaker and a new hive and instantly be at work with what a bee is designed to do.

All this week, as I was painting myself Picasso, the farm around me was creating a masterpiece of unparalleled excellence. Perhaps it has something to do with Who is allowed to hold the paintbrush!