Gratitude, Gardens and Good Visit

Just a quick post after the most recent intense ones… . Thank you to everyone who replied to yesterday’s post either in the comments or in personal emails. I am blessed to have so many awake, aware and compassionate blog readers. So many people have been feeling the gathering storm of energies and feeling alone. It seems many have found strength in the reminder that we are never alone, even when we feel isolated or left behind. These moments of connection — whether virtual or in person — moments when we offer a kind word to each other, a hand on the back, or just a nod of “I hear you, and I get it” allow those of us who support so many others to receive some of that encouragement in return. We all need it sometimes, and it seems the past week’s energies hit especially hard for people who usually manage to stay up no matter what.

So thank you. Thank you for the loving energy, words and support to me and to each other. That’s how we make the best of any of these situations, whatever they may bring.

On Sunday afternoon, David and I had a lovely visit from Ann Kreilkamp of Exopermaculture — merging online and in person friendships. Ann and I have followed each others blogs for years and have corresponded privately for some of that time, especially since we now live only three hours apart. Despite that short distance, a visit had never quite worked out until this Sunday, when Ann drove nearly past Goshen on her way home from an Upper Peninsula Michigan retreat.

Quite fittingly, David finished assembling our Garden Tower right before Ann arrived. It has been sitting on our porch for months, ignored by both of us, but it felt perfect to put it together when its maker’s mom was about to visit!

As I explained yesterday, our yard had been tormenting me this week with dandelion puff balls everywhere, a frost while I was of town and unable to cover tender plants, neglectful faeries, and all manner of squirrel mischief. I spent the day planting until right before I received Ann’s call that she was in Goshen, so I had begun feeling a bit better about the errant gardens. Ann, who has her permaculture design certificate, also offers a lifetime of wonderful crone wisdom, and she helped return my appreciation for how much we already do have going on in this very much work in progress place. Instead of hodge podge and incomplete, Ann saw what I usually see: possibilities, delightful surprises and interesting experiments. She insisted I take this photo, which gives more of the yard’s scope. Note that the true expanse is nearly double what you see here, because the yard extends behind the house and garage on the left, as well as in front and on the left side of the unpictured house:

While Ann and I talked permaculture and compared crops and fruit tree info, David was inside preparing a lovely first course Italian vegetable soup. He is the King of Soups. 🙂 We went inside, made introductions, and then I left them chatting and drinking “The Gnome Knows” Syrah while I gathered huge amounts of fresh greens for a second course of quinoa and a whole messa greens, also known as Quinie Greenies. We finished off the meal with coconut ice cream and strawberry macaroons. I don’t remember all the things we discussed, but it felt like the three of us had already had many such conversations before and just picked up where we left off. We made indefinite but firm plans to meet again, perhaps even at a retreat halfway between Goshen and Bloomington. It’s so lovely when online friendships blossom, and I was happy to connect David and Ann, too.

David took the above photo with us standing in the circle of urbanite — so nice that Ann immediately knew and used the term for reclaimed concrete repurposed as garden stones! We sent her away with hugs and promises of future visits.

Yesterday, I began to plant the Garden Tower:

And today, the forget me not’s are blooming bright:

My cosmic hissy fit at the yard, squirrels and faeries appears to have gotten someone’s attention, as we have had nary a squirrel problem in several days now, and the dandelions have calmed down to a dull roar instead of a non-stop train whistle — of which we do still have our fair share. 😉

Anyway … the energies have shifted somewhat, not just for me, but I hear this from others, as well. Perhaps we feel Mars going direct. Perhaps we all let off a little steam from the pressure cooker. In any case, I am grateful for friends, David, and a good visit … and a very special thank you to Raven Moss, who is both an amazing gardener and a very wise shaman. Blessings!