Celebrating the Midpoint

 

Today I am celebrating Summer's Midpoint, halfway between the Solstice and Equinox.  This is also known as Lammas.  I call it Bread Day.

Yesterday I went out in my yard and "harvested" the volunteer wheat growing in my garden along the pathway.  I "threshed" it (that took some time, effort, and patience), washed it, and dried it.  I had about a quarter cup.  Today I ground it into flour and made a flatbread to eat with my salad.  I enjoyed it very much.

While eating it, I thought of my maternal grandfather, Earl Thomas, raising wheat in north central Kansas.  This was my connection to him and all my ancestors, and to my Kansas childhood.

We are also enjoying summer squash in abundance, and lettuce, onions, and peaches.  Tomatoes and peppers are beginning to ripen.  Flowers are blooming everywhere, especially the sunflowers!

At this midpoint, I notice the changing sunlight, the shorter days, and earlier sunsets.  Though the weather here in the Great Basin is still hot, I know cooler temperatures are coming.

Joy can be found in every season... it might just be easier in summer.

Please get vaccinated.  Wear a mask when appropriate.  Every life is precious.

Making a Difference... Maybe.

Today I planted about 20 milkweed seedlings in my garden.  I hope they will feed monarch butterflies.  I believe they will not flower until next year.  I don't see many monarchs in Utah.  It is such a tiny thing I have done.  I don't know if they will make much of a difference.  

But, today I planted milkweed in my garden.

Sunset After a Rainy Day

 

setting on the horizon

the sun reaches down 

to touch the earth

to bless it with light and life

Last Day of COVID Isolation...

After 402 Days, Jean and I will reemerge into society... with masks on... 

Thanks to everyone who worked on getting vaccine needles in arms.

We did it!  

Just Before Going on Zoom

What can I say,
To lift your burden,
To ease your worries,
To heal your pain?
What can I say,
To inspire your confidence,
To give you hope,
To light your way?

We are together in all this.
You lift my burden,
You ease my anxiety,
You heal my pain.
You inspire my confidence,
You give me hope,
And, you light my way.
What can I say,
But thank you.


(thanks Carol for reminding me...)

For my Lammas ("Bread Day")

I have harvested my little volunteer wheat crop... and will include it in my bread making today... well actually, pancakes.  This is my Lammas (Bread Day) celebration!

I Am Learning

I am learning that

• nothing lasts forever,
• if you feed birds, you will feed squirrels and mice as well,
• it's not what you plant, but what grows.
• the wind is brutal,
• everything does not bloom at the same time, nor as long as I might like.
• peas taste better eaten in the garden,
• everything moves, including rocks,
• I never have enough flower pots, or seeds,
• I find spontaneous moments of joy in our garden (if I don't focus too much on what the earwigs have eaten!).

Today is Independence Day in the USA... The earth is at its Aphelion.  The moon is full and prenumbrally eclipsed.  Our grandkids are in town.  And, today is Day 114 of our COVID-19 isolation.

For Cindy

I am amazed
At this river’s current
Powerful volume,
Never ending,
Never running dry.
I might dip my hand in it
And feel the power and pressure
Of the water
Flowing down from the mountains,
Flowing through the continent,
Flowing on to the ocean,
Becoming ocean,
And then returning
As storm clouds,
Rain and snow on the mountains
And then stream and river again,
Carrying bits of the mountains
To the oceans.

I stand here
On the bank
In this flood plain,
Witnessing the power
That carries everything
Down stream,
Amazed and cautious.

When the Wind Stops... We Sing!

I didn’t think I had an argument with God
Though I knew I didn’t completely agree,
With the weeds in my garden,
Or whatever’s eating my plants…
I’m beginning to wonder if He objects to
My planting beans this year.

And what is it with this wind?

(The tougher of our plants simply continued to bloom after a full day of furious, hot dry winds yesterday!) 

just write...

Summer Solstice

star dust... and sunshine... celebrating just being...

Expansion and Contraction

I've seen the earth stretch out
in the evening as the sun sets,
when I haven't traveled
as far as I thought I would that day,
and more, much more I did not see,
and I wished to be there
instead of here, where I am.

But then, I've seen the earth contract
late at night as it cools,
and everything is lit by a campfire,
or is contained within four walls,
with the windows closed,
and it's all on the television screen,
or on the pages of a book,
and there's nowhere else I want to be,
but right here, where I am.

On Day 95 of Isolation

I fold my arms
as if to embrace myself,
bow my head
and close my eyes,
collapsing my world
around me like a comforter.
All the universe is now
just what is within sight,
within hearing,
and within reach.
Even with the wind blowing,
here I find peace.

Staying Balanced

My Latest Creation: A Perfectly Imperfect Canjo

This was an intentionally imperfect build... I tarnished the cookie tin, chose a knotty pine 1x2 for the neck (it has to be played with a slide), which I distressed, rusted the bridge and nut, dented the tin, and inserted a couple of little pieces of rock to rattle inside...  and inside I wrote: "the nature of the beast..."

It's a bit on the quiet side, but plays nicely... not perfectly... but nicely.

After 84 Days of Self-Isolation

We are taking it one day at a time...


see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhWFddWz1Nk

A Prescription for Acute Individualism and Existential Angst

Look at...
the grass in a meadow,
a forest of trees,
the ocean waves,
a flock of starlings,
a school of sardines,
a mountain range,
or rolling hills.
Look at...
fair weather cumulus clouds,
water in a river,
the drops of rain on a rainy day,
Or the snowflakes in a blizzard.
Look at...
the stars in the night sky,
or the bees in an orchard,
or visiting wildflowers
among the grass in a meadow.

radishes

there's something about radishes that makes me think I am a gardener...

Cotton and Silk

There is cotton and silk floating in the sky,
Cottonwood and spiders fly!
Summer is truly here now...
Miracles are happening daily.

A Little Cousin

Someone else loves dandelions... even more than I do.