Darker

4pm and the sun is set. The sky is still peach and pale green and there's still plenty of light to see by (and even see colour) but the sun is down.

I'm suddenly glad Christmas is after Solstice, and New Years after that. I'm not one for dominant-society holidays for the most part but it will be nice to have so many days off right at the darkest time of year, right where the days are getting longer but you can't quite feel it yet.

Yesterday when I cane home from overnight at Tucker's the back door was open. The wood stove was on and the house was cold. The dog must have pushed it open coming in or out through the dog door in it.

Last night I lay in front of the fireplace with Avallu. I brushed him for long enough to learn that the static was enough to zap every individual hair straight off the brush and onto me, then I lay next to him and we just snuggled. He's a big dog: when his head is on my shoulder his butt is about at my knees. He fell asleep there, we were lying on his blanket in front of the woodstove. Sometimes you just need to be with someone who is flawless at communicating their boundaries, loves you unconditionally, and will be with you forever.

Well.

Not close enough to forever, but.

I set up the second pig shed for farrowing; I think Rapunzel is due fairly soon. Hopefully the weather stays warm and she chooses a good place. I never would have believed when I was little that I'd be castrating piglets one day, or even that someone who's not a vet was allowed.

I still need to rearrange my space before solstice. I think we'll be doing some bottling too. That will be good.

I'm glad to be doing this with Tucker. It's nice to be with someone who's a bit of a spiritual match for this work. I hope I get to keep this part of my relationship with him. I've felt this way with very few people.

Date your species, they say, but I'm such a hybrid of so many species.