Gardening + Nature

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Michael, Mary, and Jesus came for a visit! The weather was warm enough to go without a sweater, the food and company so good. Juniper and Jesus were best pals, eating from the same plate, drinking from the same bowl, playing in their odd way. In one of those mind benders, the time spent together over a mere twenty-four hours morphed into a jolly few days of activity. We grilled, puzzled, chatted, laughed and laughed, walked, shopped, and ate and ate and ate.

It is an old refrain, but dang, what would we do without the support and company of our very best friends? I will never stop marveling at my wonderful circle of loved ones. With them, I may not be able to understand a world of war and poverty and senselessness, but I can certainly feel less alone in it, embraced in warmth and joy.

Farmer Greg broke out the big guns this year, buying a grow mat (the basement floor is very cold) and a light. There were a few seeds that never sprouted and a couple that did, then died, but overall, it’s been a successful start. He’s growing several varieties of pepper, tomato, nasturtium, ground cherry, beans, fennel, and zucchini. It is very exciting to watch!

We are nearly finished with our spring garden clean-up, with the front yard remaining, though it will be (or just seem) like ages before everything is well and truly green. There are leaves budding on the rose and fern bush, nascent lilac blooms, tulips and daffodils popping up and a lone pasque in full flower, which is always such a treat to witness.

The chickadees have made a nest in the bird house again, and I love their earnest endeavor to make it safe and cozy, mom and pop darting to and fro with every manner of material. We are all connected in our own little worlds, so sweet.

Hope this April day is a fine one in your neck of the woods…

Matrix

Greetings from a very magical morning last week! The day prior was adrizzle (not a word, but I’m keeping it) for hours upon hours before evening and the tiniest of feather flakes that latched together, one upon another upon another, creating this wondrous matrix of frost. We had already planned to spend the morning at Garden of the Gods and thusly could not believe our good luck to have the splendor of it taken up and up and up.

We have been venturing out a little bit more, Colorado Mountain Brewery here, Shinsadong there, dotted, as always, with trips to the library, where the books have been plenty but my pleasure in reading a mixed bag. I seem to snag a truly good read about 10% of the time. Oh, how I wish it were more. For old school viewing, we are rotating between episodes of Raising Hope (SO funny!) and Pushing Daisies (Funny and LEE PACE!!). Also rather enjoyable was Station Eleven. It is a shell of the book but quite an extraordinary one. Then there is season two of Beforeigners, which is just as good as the first and the new Sex and the City. I have zero complaints in the viewing department. Amen.

And in the big “L” life department I have been pondering the idea of fulfillment. Right?! I did say big L, peeps. I believe I’ve come to the conclusion that it is better to abandon the pursuit of it. That maybe in so doing I will not be as judgmental about any lack in my life. I kept wondering if it is really only something momentarily obtained. I did this (wrote a novel!) or that (was a teacher!). That thrill is gone. Now what? Flee-ting.

I suppose it is like mindfulness? Be here now, find peace now? Maybe more accurately, find peace in what exists now? Imperfection. Boredom. Daydreaming. Desire. Walking. Cooking. Laundry.

I’ll tell you how it goes.

Our neighborhood Thursday morning, after hurricane force winds (100 miles per hour) blasted for the better part of Wednesday. We lost power for nearly five hours, sadly, even with the benefit of solar panels. After a bit of research, we learned this protects line workers. It would be mighty dangerous thinking there isn’t power on the line, when our house is sending it back into the grid.

As stressful as it was to be without heat or power, hear the wind howling, see every manner of debris flying so VERY high, and witness the aftermath, our city was largely spared. Unlike the horror of the tornadoes in Kentucky, I have not heard of any injuries or deaths associated with the storm. And, by golly, it is like every tree that fell did their best to do as little harm as possible. Walking around, we were amazed at how few of them actually landed on houses or cars. There are still thousands without power here, but it really could have been so much worse. Hope life is good where you are!

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Happy day after Halloween! Are you good and sugared up? Greg and I did our fair share of partaking in the stash of candy, to be sure. They are probably not new, but I only discovered them this year – giant chewy Nerds! So very good. Yesterday was also cookie day, which took the sugar rush to the next level and kept me from getting a pleasant sleep. As Grandpa would say, “The bunnies were chasing me!”

It was wonderful to see so many kids out and having fun. I suppose the only bummer of the day was our weather taking a misty turn. We need the moisture, really and truly, but I wish it had waited a day for the trick-or-treaters.

It is Juniper sweater season, the aspens are dropping glorious leaves at every turn, and I’m trying batches of hot honey and hot sauce with Farmer Greg’s chiles. We also completed our first two puzzles of the season, so you know, all the signs of fall!

Finally, a pretty lunch bowl – chicken tinga, pinto beans, corn, and cauliflower “rice.” Very Weight Watchers approved. Which reminds me, I am down 13 pounds, and Greg, drumroll please…23!! Testosterone really is a body’s best friend when it comes to weight loss. Lucky Duck!

mint + tomato

I love HOT coffee. To get quite literal, I’m talking 150 degrees hot, because, of course I measured! On a French press day, I pour it into our old school Corning Ware pot and let it big bubble boil before adding the wonder that is milk. Mostly lotsa, lotsa homemade almond, cow a distant second, I know – snob. But I’ve probably burned a coffee connoisseur bridge or two by boiling it in a pot on the stove. Eeek! Now that we have an espresso machine, that milk’s gotta be creamy-steamy steamed. I like what I like! I sit at my usual spot at the table, sip slowly, and revel in every single sip. I really do.

Lately, I’ve been reading a Psalm while I’m at it. Aside from a few Catechism classes as a wee one, I have never had any sort of bible study. If you are a religious Christian, this might be the moment to avert your eyes. <<PAUSE TO WAIT>> Thus far, I am finding them to be mostly angry rants against the Lord and wishing misery upon others, when I was looking for a bit more eloquence, hope, and aspiration. Let’s just say it answers a lot of other questions about Christianity for me. We’ll see how long I stick with it. <<PAUSE OVER>>

And now for TEA! For reasons I cannot explain, it is pretty much a polar opposite situation. I do not enjoy it at coffee temperature. At all. TOO HOT!! So I wait, generally for enough time to have nearly forgotten about it. Then it is lukewarm perfect and I GULP it down in a truly separate but equal heart aflutter fashion. Odd funny, and another very unsurprisingly me, Colleen Sohn, thing to do. Oh, the multitude on the list. Like anyone cares or needs to know, but alas, here we are!

And finally, the photos. The last bunches of mint and tomatoes. So pretty. Praise be to the beauty of fall. I do not remember the last time it didn’t snow or freeze in such a terrible manner that the majority of leaves immediately fell, so very green and sad, denying us the beauty we are now experiencing. The trees are alive with color, dear reader, and I could not be happier about it!

The amazing salad -Vietnamese Pork with quick pickled radish, jicama, and carrot, and with a bevy of other chopped goodness – the last of Farmer Greg’s cayenne & curly endive, then jalapeno, cucumber, cilantro, mint (from above!), purple and green cabbage, lettuce. Good grief, the chopping! It was super-yummy, but if there’s going to be a next time, I will need a little help. I was at it for an hour, chop, chop, chopping, and pickling. We downed them in less than ten. Not the best ratio, in my humble opinion.

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