Grow

[catelin]

My hands are dirty. Sometimes digging in the dirt and planting things is the only way to feel better about everything. There's too much going on in my head and heart to make sense of these days, so I put agave and aloe into the ground around my little house. I planted prickly pear and cholla, Brazilian mallow and sunflowers. I scattered hollyhock and moonflower seeds across the back fence line. Tomorrow I'll begin piecing together all the cedar, transforming branches into trellises and garden gates. I forget sometimes, until I get outside, how much I love this place. It's not just my house; it's the land. I love my oaks and the grapevines. I love the way everything gets quiet at dusk and the deer come out to feed. I love the moon and the stars that move above me, reminding me that I am always going in circles and that's exactly as it should be. I love the sound of frogs in my pond and the old possum that finds its way to the cat's food every night. I remembered all these things today--the laundry list of what I love about here. No matter how much changes, I can't help but feel lucky to be home, to know that I have this place for me and my boys. My hands are dirty, but I feel cleaner than I have in months.

Comments

[anoisblue.livejournal.com]

Oh, moonflower vines. Lovely. I'm glad you're home Cate.

[dlishs-grind.livejournal.com]

lovely... *home* is a lucky feeling... i feel that way too when i sit on my balacony with my boys and the "howl" at the beautiful moon and are sheltered by the tree that grows taller every summer that passes. Sometimes i forget how long we've been here until i look at my plants and my trees. They constantly remind me of my family's growth as well. Peace to you.

[jourdannex.livejournal.com]

There is a time in the morning the way the light hits the garden and the flowers and herbs and trellises and ponds and it's just...that feeling. Crushing mint and lavender in your hand and the scent and feeling it's home and all is right. Same at evening, a different light falling...but just the peaceful quiet of it all. I could not live without that.

I refuse to use gardening gloves because I have to feel the dirt. I have to feel the herbs and plants. Someone said "doesn't that ruin your manicure?" Honey, what manicure? From Spring to Summer, my manicure is dirt :) And I love it.

Oh to build gates and trellises, I want picutures of that. It sounds divine.

There is something very important in having the land for you and the boys. My land used to be my grandparents and they lovingly planted trees and built their little house and gardened through the years, my grandmother would bring back seedling trees from her friends back east, flower cuttings and she would make them work and grow here. Now they are gone and all her seedlings are huge trees. My sister would love to the land and house bulldozed, the trees cut down and tract homes put on the lot to maximize profit. She thinks it's a waste for a tiny house to sit on a piece of land. She thinks trees are a waste. And I swear Cate, I would just as soon cut my arms off than cut one of these trees down. She will never get her wish. We had a pine tree that was leaning towards the house and the day they cut it down I just cried.

[theotoky.livejournal.com]

oh how i can relate to this! this is the first year that i will not have a garden and i'm not quite certain how to hang onto my sanity without one. perhaps i should check into community gardens?

enjoy the dirt under your nails and the fruits of you labor.

wearing dirt on our hands

[nakachi.livejournal.com]

if fortunate is to be full of fortune and luck is to be full of luck, then we are, indeed, lucky to be so fortunate. i've recently acquired my first yard since leaving the town i grew up in at 17. images of buttercups and freesia dance in my head. "i am a gardner" carries a lovely melody through my mind every time i remember it.

if we continue perpetuating this earth/self love [because you are a beautiful place.] we will never run out of it.

[quuf.livejournal.com]

Dirt isn't dirty, is it? Not like the grime you get in cities.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

The land! How I miss living with that connection. I realize I attain it at a level many apartment dwellers do not, but it's 11 years since I've had a garden. This spring my daughters and I are going to get a community garden plot, and I can hardly wait.

[hollow-warrior.livejournal.com]

I feel so lucky to live where i do. I have a half an hour drive to the city for grad school every day, but unlike my classmates I am not living in a city apartment. We have a whole house, on land. A short walk takes us to a tribe of beavers and a heron's hunting grounds. The neighbor's giant cat comes over to say hello often. Seeing the stars without any city lights suffocating them is the most vivid reminder of how good the peace we have is.

[whatifitworks.livejournal.com]

Oh, I emapathize with you. To complete the seasonal circle, yesterday I did a strange reverse of your actions. Being autumn down here in the other hemisphere, I removed the dead flower heads, swept the fallen leaves from the almonds and the apricots. Cut back the leggy, woody bracts of vietnamese mint and thyme and piled pretty blue shells at the base of the tender plants to protect them from the cold and and keep the weeds down in the wet-season. My whole routine was comleted to the high scents of vinegar, bubbling out from the kitchen where the end of season limes were changing into my favourite pickles. Hearing you describe the dance of spring, does indeed remind me of the perfect circle that we follow.

[thepetey.livejournal.com]

man, I wish i wrote like you.

That was beautiful.

With out knowing where else to put this: i have plans to be in san antonio for the festival this coming weekend. It would be cool to maybe grab a cup of coffee and say hi if you are so willing.

[catelin.livejournal.com]

That might work! Let's connect and see what the schedule looks like. I'll email you my number and we can talk about it.

[catelin.livejournal.com]

Oops! I don't have an email for you. Just email me at ccompton at gmail and I will send it to you! : )

[chaizzilla.livejournal.com]

Weeded my community garden patch Monday, my ass was gonna get thrown out if it wasn't done by Monday, so by the time it got too dark to see what I was doing (w/o glasses at least) I'd hoed the heck out of the patch with a single wooden stake, almost felt like swimming in dirt. Kinna cool, should make sure I didn't lose the plot still though; have a giant pile of weeds & tillage to separate & chop & haul half or more away somewhere. Then planting; there's some seeds for me in the hutch to check out, the coordinator encouraged peas which I'm not crazy about but maybe could learn to like, my daydream about it has lots and lots and lots of leeks, rutabaga, turnips, parseley, brussels sprouts, some of the sage & rosemary salvaged from the previous tenant... carrots for sure... anyway, etc...