I am the Audience

Bone Wind

May 2, 2015

poetry and songs

Found on Tumblr this morning by following #ordinary things. I”m saving it here because I really like the poem and want to remember it in December.

http://witchesandpagans.com/sagewoman-blogs/woodspriestess/bonewind-s-return.html

Bone wind has returned
    mother of winter’s chill
    sweeping through bare branches
    and rattling dusty leaves.

    The remnants of summer
    have completely faded
    and the doorway to the new year
    has cracked open.

    With the skeletal swirl of frost and freeze
    I see the hint
    of new things
    waiting to burst from behind the door.

    Hibernating now perhaps
    hunkered down to wait it out
    resting, biding time, percolating
    nestled in darkness
    but, oh so ready, to grow.

    It is only on the surface
    that the world prepares to take a long nap
    underneath the crust
    change boils
    life bubbles
    new ideas gestate
    and time crowns anew
    with the promise and potential of birth
    held in cupped hands.

    The flame of fresh ideas flickers
    and catches
    until the blaze of possibility
    envelopes the cold.
Planting – April, 2015

April 22, 2015

a day in this life

I started Beauregard sweet potatoes a couple of months ago and have put 3 slips in my raised bed this morning. I put 3 eyes of a Yukon Gold Irish potato in the other end. I stuck the rest of the eyes in empty-ish places along the iris/blueberry fence row.

I had already planted nasturtium seeds in the holes in the cinder blocks along one long and one short side..

5 Arkansas Little Leaf climbing cucumbers have gone in the center holes on the other long side. 6 bush cucumbers have gone in the other holes, 3 at each end. One of the Arkansas Little Leafs didn’t sprout. But the Mexican Sour Gherkins are volunteering in their holes. I have 4 bamboo poles in holes and I have a bottom row of string ready for the cukes to begin climbing.

I have pulled my carrots so I can plant 2 rows of the Glass Corn popcorn seeds I managed to produce last year. I’ve put them in the middle of that bed. The garlic needs to grow another month or so, so I’m leaving it alone. I”ll put the jalapenos in there when they are bigger. There are 4 spindly plants in little pots, right now.

Chuck’s carrots are bigger and more consistent, so I’ll make a huge dessert this afternoon with my multicolored ones. I hope they keep the colors when they cook. Purple okra doesn’t.

The sunchokes are coming up like crazy, so the bees should have a nice treat this Fall.

Roses and kiwis are putting out new growth.

Dill seeds are sprouting in the herb bed.

Columbines are blooming in the front.

We have bitty plums forming and one peach.

Lilacs will not be blooming this year. Their buds froze.

Iris buds are popping up, And one has even opened.
No godliness here

April 16, 2015

a day in this life, family

I think you should be able to find the floor. I think vermin should not be encouraged. When there are big pieces of dirt, they should be removed. That’s is, for the most part, my requirements about house cleaning.

This translates into dishes in the dishwasher as soon as possible (cooked on food soaking for no longer than one night’s sleep) and clothes going in the hamper as soon as they are taken off. Old wrappers, tags from new clothes, empty cartons and boxes go into the trash or recycling bin immediately. This keeps things, for the most part, picked up, making actual cleaning easier when the time finally comes.

My mother is a fan of what I refer to as “cleaning invisible dirt.” She wants the bathroom cleaned every week. I am fine with waiting until I see soap scum or whiskers in the sink. Or when company is coming. I dust when I see dust, too. Not on a schedule.

When I was young, I put more effort into living up to my mother’s standards. But, I was doing laundry at a friends house one day and struggling to fold a fitted sheet. And bitching because it was something I have never been able to do with any ease. And he asked me if folding a fitted sheet was something it was important for me to be good at. Was that a thing I wanted to be known for when I was old?

Wow! That was surprisingly freeing.

So, cleaning can wait a while. But, because I don’t want to live in filth, it does eventually come. And I do have standards of how much is too much. Fortunately, my husband and I have a similar level of tolerance. Sadly, my son does not. I suspect my mother sees my house in the same light as I see my son’s room.
Work

April 3, 2015

a day in this life

One of my first jobs was as a fill-in for the shipping clerk of a company that makes industrial ladders. He was the brother-in-law of the owner and was going to be out for 3 months for something medical. Maybe he had a heart attack and was healing? I don’t really recall.

My job was to contact the trucking company that would get the shipments to the company that ordered them and to make the shipping labels.

I was surprised to find the copying of the labels to be very soothing. When, I commented on that to a friend who was also a priest, he wasn’t surprised at all. He told me that monks have a period of repetitive work included in their day and that it is intended to be a time of meditation.

Since then, I have found satisfaction in awareness of contemplative work.

I work in a reference lab and the repetition in pipetting batches of samples and reagents into vials is very satisfying. The fact that it is useful work is too. Any annoyances I have with my job are not with the work itself, but with the people who interrupt my flow. I’m fortunate that the people who work during my regular shift seem to have the same appreciation of flow that I do.
Not a lark. Not an owl.

April 2, 2015

a day in this life

What is a bird for the evening?

Three decades ago, I learned that I really am most alert in the latter part of the day. I drove my mother crazy, reading by the hall light until midnight. And when I went to college, I arranged all my classes to be after 10 AM.

I can do third shift when I must. But, that isn’t the best time for me for an extended time. I don’t sleep well in the daylight. Not for long periods any way. Even if I’ve been up all night, I start waking up around ps noon and have to fight my psyche to stay asleep.

Unfortunately, Spring is happening and I need to get out of my bed to get things done in my yard while it is cool. So, I need to rearrange my habits. Lingering over coffee for 2 or 3 hours while I read the internet isn’t going to work anymore. That needs to wait for 80F. Or when I’m too tired to drag brush back to the woods.

(The amount of money we spend on mulch is ridiculous,)

Time is a construct created by Man to order his life. But, temperature is a brute that is unaffected by our needs, wants or opinions.