Category Archives: garden

make me smile


–burning GameBoy’s old homework in a firepit (photo above). And the sparks, as they blew around the beach in the dark, they looked like stars
–first day or Winter quarter classes for me. Printed syllabi. The promise of fresh new start.
–Giving lots of stuff away on freecycle over the weekend. The lightness of it.
—garden catalogs.
–sitting in bed with John last night. Making up silly acronyms. Giggling myself to sleep
—this photo, because I know what it is.
–getting a UPS package from electronics company this afternoon What? Isn’t Xmas over with? Then opening it up and finding a cordless phone as a gift from an acquaintance. (Note: those of you who know me well know that I am not a phone person. In fact, I probably only use the landline phone once or twice per week). Our current phones are laughable anyways–under our bed in case of emergency: an old princess-style model cobbled together from random phone parts and has no ringer. And in the LR: an ancient cordless phone w/a weakening battery and a connected answering machine–given to us by friends who moved to Japan two years ago. So I’ve just figured I would get a new phone someday via freecycle so I’ve never bothered to replace either of them. But now, a brand-spanking new cordless phone. That’s a first in our household.
🙂

fuzzy peach


fuzzy peach

I took my new digital camera (thanks John!) to the garden last night. I wanted to share the loveliness of the full moon, the way it lights up flowers, fruit and vines in my garden plot. My skills are still those of a novice, but I think a few of my efforts do manage to capture the beauty of the moment.

Click on the photo above for a brief garden stroll with me. Ahhh, don’t the peaches hang like moons on the boughs of this dwarf peach tree?…

schedule

for a day without the kiddoes:
7:30 wake up and test the bed springs w/John (yup, they still work)
8:30 shower, where I use my new favorite shampoo. It has good lather, a fresh scent, and leaves my hair oh-so soft & shiny! I start the day with happy hair.
8:47 light incense, sit on bed in lotus position and meditate
8:49 pet Elly when she leaps into lap as I meditate in lotus position
9:01 snuggle w/Elly on bed
9:20 get dressed in garden clothes
9:23 ride bike to garden; water
9:58 ride bike home
10:01 change clothes & check email
10:09 start watching ‘youtube’ videos; chat with John about internet tubes, macacas and toilet trained cats.
10:34 make a list of errands we want to run today, including the running store, a local coffeehouse, a plant nursery, a comic book shop, and a bead shop
11:05 go to lunch at sushiboy (blech. stale sushi)
12:00 mail overdue netflix movies on the way to the running store/coffeehouse (I grade papers at the coffeehouse while John buys new running shoes) [FYI Uncle NikeJohn, he bought Adidas this time]
3:15 leave coffeehouse and go to bead shop. I peruse beads while John pops into random stores throughout the adjacent strip mall.
3:45 go to plant nursery where I buy some flowers and John heads for the comic book store across the street
4:45 I join John at the comic book store. He shows me Ticket to Ride and we buy it. [John figures I’ll be willing to play a game that’s about _trains!_]
5:15 we drop by Rite Aid, where they are having a clearance sale on garden kitsch. I buy two solar lamps for the garden at a pretty hefty discount.
5:30 arrive home from errands. I change clothes and head back to garden to plant flowers and attend a Garden Council meeting (I’m the treasurer for our community garden).
8:30 I leave the garden, which now looks like a fairyand in the pale blue glow of the new solar lanterns. The lights turn on at dusk and will illuminate the central pathway of the garden for about 8 hours, running on solar power stored up from the day’s light.
9:00 over a plate of noodles from a local restaurant, we play Ticket to Ride. A super close game, John wins by only a few points.
11:10 reading, writing and time for bed.
A long and enjoyable day. We miss the kiddoes terribly, but they had lots of fun climbing Mt. Baldy with Suz&Chris. 🙂

tart

A recipe, with goodies from the garden…

Tomato and Squash Tart

2-4 large fresh tomatoes, thinly sliced
2 large zucchini or summer squash, thinly sliced
1 large potato, peeled and thinly sliced
1/2 cup diced onion
1 cup shredded Swiss cheese, divided
1 tsp salt
2 tsp eash fresh oregano & thyme or 1/2 tsp dried Italian seasoning
2 eggs, lightly beaten
Butter
fresh sweet basil for garnish

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Butter a shallow casserole dish. Combine squash, potato, onion, 3/4 cup of the Swiss cheese, eggs, salt, thyme & oregano (or Italian seasoning). Arrange half of the tomato slices on bottom of pie plate. Spoon vegetable mixture over tomatoes.
Arrange remaining tomato slices on top; sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup cheese. Garnish with basil leaves.
Bake until vegetables are tender–about 45 minutes.

stones

It has taken me a few days to think about how to respond to John’s post about the stoning of Malak, an Iranian woman accused and convicted of adultery.

I chose not to follow John’s links to images of stoning, because I have already seen such images and as the horror of them is indelibly etched into my memory I don’t need another witness to the brutality of such a practice. [Note: For me, such images spiral me into crisis. Am I the only one who can’t eat, can’t embrace, can’t hold fast to joy when I faced with such horrors? Is it wrong or naive to protect my own strength by not daring to look?]

So this morning as I meditated I recalled my mental images and I put myself in the place of Malak. In my mind I tried to feel the fear of my impending death. As I did so, I felt such outrage at the brutality and barbarism of being stoned to death. I felt I could neither comprehend nor find empathy for a culture who would sanction such torture.

And then I shifted my attention to those who would throw stones. I felt the rough weight of rock in my hands. I marveled at the power I have to hurl rocks at another person with the intention of harm. I looked around me and saw others throwing stones. I felt the pressure of doing the same. In looking down at the stone I thought of this post, and reflected on the power of such small bits of compressed earth. With the power to wound and kill and the power to open the heavens. And I thought of the boldness of silence. Of taking the time to pick up a stick and write in the sand. And how such an act not only acquitted the accused, but also condemned those holding the stones.

So I signed the petition against the stoning of Malak. And I am holding her and her accusers close in my thoughts today. And I have recommitted myself to finding solutions to torture that expose its barbarity. And when I am in my garden later today I will tell the story of Malak to the stones that circle my peach tree and rosebushes. I will pick them up and feel their heft and roughness. I will take time to gaze at them and think of my connection to the earth that formed them and my connection to the pain and torture that is a world away and yet so close that I must act. The stories that rocks the tell me allow a focus on what is most essential, most plain, most true. To see that rocks are meant for building bridges, for creating conduits to the divine, for reminding us of our own fragility.