dark and stormy

Weather words: overcast, unsettled, dreary, damp, dank, humid, 

misty, foggy, rainy, downpours, inclement, drizzly, 

clammy, showery, muddy, soggy, and of course dark and stormy. 

My garden in spite of or maybe because of this is growing.  
Pumpkins are flowering, beans are doing well and zinnias have buds.  
Suspect they like me would appreciate a solar fix.

getting into your work

I had a vision for a shot and got it with a crop, 

but there I am shooting in the original.  

Really looks like I was holding up the work....

shadows are wonderful!

the garden is happening

neighbors

Hoping that my new hoppy neighbor is going to be eating 

a few of less favorite neighbors,
the deer flies, mesquitoes and black flies.  

The dragonflies, damsal flies  are also far and away great eaters 

as well as being decorative!

Having bugs is a sign of good eco system here, but----

Good grief we have more bugs than anyone 

and I would be happy to share and to improve the eco systems of others!!!!!

sizzling

Lovely word that!

Well June is sizzling, hot, humid and busting out all over!

Garden is in high gear as are the weeds.

Amazing what a little rain and sun can do to goose things.

In my younger days, I could not get enough hot.  Now I am a wee bit smarter.

"Only mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun."

Dogs and I spend these sweltering (another fine descriptive!) days doing not much.

At dawn I take my coffee, head out to weed and water, then walk the dogs,

Followed by not doing much that requires energy.

I have had to learn this.  

The dogs knew this.  

We should learn from the dogs.

water

rest

and more water

cheating?

Took pictures at the bog of the still water and they were nice shots  ---- BUT---- 

when I tossed in a rock and shot  it again 

there was this more wonderful interesting ripple effect!

lost art of sitting

Yesterday while picking up a package at the post office I noticed an older couple sitting outside.  
They weren't plugged in, they were sitting in the shade together. 
Just sitting.  My dogs are sitting out on the porch right now.  
Some times they snooze off, but most times there
 are awake and taking in all that is there.  
Occasionally a something gets there attention and they take off into the fields or woods for a moments chase, then return to is quiet contemplation with their heads in the moment -  here,  now. 

In our world of plug-in with computers, phones,
 M3P players we can't seem to sit, walk shop, exercise without some distraction.  If we are doing two things at once, our mind is not totally on either one. 
 Yes we can sit and listen to music,
but we will miss the sound of the plane, dog barking, wind blowing.  Yes we can take our mind off the pain of exercise by listening to an M3P player.  
Will we be aware of our self or our surroundings? Here, now?

When did multi tasking become the norm?  and why? Why are we humans so afraid of silence, slowness, doing one thing at a time being totally here now.

It is an art to do one thing, sit, eat, walk, garden, paint, write

 and to do it fully and well,

 and it seems in this age a disappearing art.

“Do one thing at a Time, 

and while doing it put your whole Soul into it 

the exclusion of all else.”

― Swami Vivekananda

volunteers

Potatoes in my compost.  Just toss veg leftovers in as trash 
and lo and behold new plants.  There are also tomatoes and squash.  
It is not hard to garden if you just let nature have at it.

remembrances

Different things bring to mind certain people.  

Making coffee reminds me of Kris.  

Gardening reminds me of my mom. 

 Walking brings to mind my father.  

Dancing reminds me of many people for assorted reasons. 

Singing reminds me of Tammy singing at dawn when her heart was broken.

The Righeous Brothers reminds me of Chas.  

Little stones I have all over the house remind me of Swede, 

a giver of stones.

~

Butterfly Chris loved these rocks.  He collected them over the years.  

These lived in a special place at his home in Windham.  

Months after the house was taken in foreclosure, 

 I took the truck and drove Chris down there to get his rocks.  

I would be heartbroken to lose my rocks and stones.  

It broke my heart that 

Chris' special rocks had been abandoned in the move ~ left behind.

I wanted him to have them to hold on to

 in the rough place 

of all the changes going on in his life.  

It took us a long time to load the truck, rock by rock by rock.

Chris wouldn't take the rocks with him.  He said he had no place for them. 

He wanted them to remain here.  He wanted me to keep them. 

He took an afternoon & made the most lovely display of them, rock by rock.  

In the years since then the weeds and grass have taken over hiding them.  

This morning I was pulling weeds around them.  

They were so hidden that I had to dig them out.  

Next step is to pull out the roots, bring in sand and mulch 

and then try to arrange them with as much love as Chris did.

  

Needless to say 

these rocks are a constant connection to most special Chris.