Sunday, March 16, 2014

The Lovely Diminutives

...Listen, love,
The fat lark sang in the field;
I touched the ground, the ground warmed by the killdeer,
The salt laughed and the stones; 
The ferns had their ways, and the pulsing lizards,
And the new plants, still awkward in their soil,
The lovely diminutives.
--Theodore Roethke, from Field of Light

Greetings to you on this almost-Spring day. I've been taken over by happy routine this winter, and it's been nice.  Comforting.  I love doing my things: walking Oakley, playing games in the evening with Jack and Caroline, cooking to music and enjoying a glass of red wine, enjoying my friends near and far, organizing corners of my house that have gotten cluttered.  Just living, you know?  When people ask me what I've been up to, what's new, I don't have much to say beyond The Usual.  I've been hanging out in cruise control, a fallow field, and I am learning to appreciate this more and more. 

But...

Spring is almost here and with it, I have been propelled back into the action.  It has just sort of happened, much to my pleasure.  I think I'm giving myself over to the seasons and it suits me to let it happen.  Like the bees, I'm increasing my industry now.  I planted my garden boxes last week--just before a major deluge, so we'll see.  If nothing comes up in the next week, I'll just replant.  I'm following a plan for square foot gardening and I'm excited to see if I can increase my yield.  I'm sort of a by-the-seat-of-the-pants veggie gardener, so this is good for me to read a book and follow directions!  I planted 3 kinds of radishes, 2 kinds of carrots, lettuce, and arugula.  Yesterday, I started a bunch of flower seeds indoors under lights in my garage:  Halo Apricot hollyhocks, purple Zebrina hollyhocks, chocolate Cosmidium Phillipine, and Neon calendula.  Last week I contained the raspberries to a dedicated patch--that was crazy, as those canes had spread out all over the place!  In a few weeks, I'll plant snap peas, my favorite thing to grow!!!  I have also ordered about 10 different types of fragrant sweet peas, and will put them in around the beginning of April.  Big garden plans and dreams, as always!

We also just celebrated our Oakleyversary!  That's right--it's been a year since we got Oakley and he has changed my life.  Thanks to him, I walk all the time, rain or shine.  We love to walk out in the valley fields off-leash and I love seeing all the changes that are happening all the time. 

 I've been really obsessed with the stark, skeletal beauty of the winter trees and have taken lots of pictures and even attempted a few little paintings.  









I love walking in the rain and celebrate the fact that I'm waterproof!  And now, the plum trees are blooming out there, the willows are all budded out,  and the meadow grasses are greening up. 








It's MAGICAL!!!