Overwhelmed

Come now with me and 

save the forests, 

save the planet, 

save humanity, 

save the animals, 

save the bees and butterflies 

save money 

save time

save lives

no vast organization asks 

to save one individual 

human shoulders grow weary

with all this saving until we

know our own salvation is within

clearing the space around us

as we walk through life

protecting and saving what we can

“Do your little bit of good where you are; it is those 

little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.”

~ Bishop Desmond Tutu 

October 07, 1931- December 26, 2021

Rest Stops?

Out of the corner of her eye, she glimpsed a red squirrel perched on a branch thick as my arm.

From a corner of her mind,

the wisp of a thought 

curled along synapses 

behind her eyes.

The squirrel knows when to pause. 

Do our minds know that tactic?

Are they merely rest stops for ideas?

“Biology gives you a brain. Life turns it into a mind.”

~ Jeffrey Eugenides, Middlesex

 

A Softer Brilliance

First time ideas 

flash brilliantly

but at the speed of light

zip into the distance 

seldom caught

always magical ~

as life breathes,

those first time ideas

grow a softer brilliance

“I think that if I had had to slow down the ideas so that 

I could capture them on paper I might have stifled some of them.”

~ J.K.Rowling

Chapter Two, Episode 125 - A Pair of Gardeners - Situationally Theirs - FOCUS - Theme for March 2023

A Pair of Gardeners

“First time we knew of it, Elizabeth.”

Out of the corner of her eye, Elizabeth glanced at Samuel.

“Come now, Sam, it can’t be; don’t you remember when we told all our stories?”

Usually Samuel was right, but she had caught him up this time,

“Sure enough, Elizabeth; forgot all about that. That was the first time we ever heard about the folk that read our stories.

“Let's get past that, talk about what we need.” He sat down, pulled his ever present pencil and notepad from his shirt pocket. “Tea there, Elizabeth?” He’d hardly finished talking when his tea and sandwich were in front of him. Cook sat across from him with her lunch. The two of them met every year to talk about produce. What he was to plant and what she would need for the kitchen. First things were much the same: tomatoes, potatoes, onions, and corn. “I do need more corn than last year. I use it about as much as I use the others. Are you planting those raspberries this year? Sure hope so.” Not spring yet they wanted to get started. Seeds packets were on full display in stores. 

A quick knock on the kitchen door, followed by a cheerful “Good morning! Anybody here?” Dez had seen Samuel go in the kitchen door. Cook called out “We’re in here having early lunch. There’s enough sandwiches if you’re hungry. Who are you looking for?’ 

“Great! I am looking for lunch. After last weekend out with Matt, my fridge is empty. But I also want to talk with you Samuel about getting started in the orchard.” A couple of sandwiches, a mug of coffee, she joined them at the table. “Did you bring that electronic thing with you to take some notes?” Samuel wasn't about to give up his old school ways, and Miss Dez insisted her shiny ‘pad’ thing was better. “Well first it’s a walk through to see what needs taking care of.” Dez set her sandwich down, and opened her iPad. Ran her fingers over it till a page appeared on the screen. “What’s after that? When do we get the trees pruned? What sorts of things do I need to watch for on the walk through?”

Elizabeth finished her tea and sandwich and let the two of them discuss the orchard. Once those two got talking about planting and growing things, she had better things to do. “I’ve already called the tree people. They’ll be out here next week to take care of the pruning.” He turned. “Elizabeth, are there anymore of those sandwiches?”

“Already bringing them, Samuel. And there’s some of those big oatmeal cookies you like.” She poured him another cup of tea before taking the pot away. “Now get back to telling Miss Dez what she needs to do.”

He turned back to Dez. “To start with, you’ll be looking for any winter trash that’s blown in, then any windfall apples that haven’t composted yet. Don’t want them creating a problem. Look for any bugs or diseased trees.” 

~~~~~

Lunch over, the two gardeners got up, absentmindedly cleared the table. “You two go on, I’ll finish clearing up.” Elizabeth held back a laugh. Half of the lunch dishes were still on the table. Samuel picked up the last cookie. He and Dez went out the kitchen door, still talking about the coming growing season.

~~~~~

“Life begins the day you start a garden.”

~ Chinese proverb

**Authors note: At the beginning of this episode, I have introduced the theme for March : ‘FOCUS’

To Branch or Not to Branch

I love trees. Individual trees. 

Tall or short, 

grand or stumpy with 

trunks, leaves and branches, 

home to birds and squirrels, 

insects and tiny bugs. 

possibly an orchardist in another life, 

I see a tree in need and want to prune it. 

trim off random suckers draining it of life

remove dead, bare branches that weigh it down

cut away branches broken by wind or a passing semi

 

when the wind swirls ideas, 

poems and stories through my mind

I can pick up my pen and write or,

let flashing, shiny coins distract me or 

pick up my pruning shears and get to work.

“As the gardener, by severe pruning, forces the sap of the tree into 

one or two vigorous limbs, so should you stop off 

your miscellaneous activity and concentrate

 your force on one or a few points.

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Why Not?”

“Why Not?”

“Why not?”  Her head tipped to one side, she looked out at her garden. It was really only a garden in her imagination. Just a plot of earth behind their house, a big boulder in one corner. Empty nesters, she and Peter had planned to make a secret garden. Complete with a white gazebo with curtains that could be pulled down as the sun came around. Ferns and wisteria in all shades of mauve, a pool for the silent boulder. She smiled. It made her happy each time it rained to see it shining and wet. Just like it would be if……….  All their plans had been set aside. Drawings and dreams filed away. 

Constance worked and came home. Their children away in different cities. Their own lives, with their own dreams. A journalist, Peter was away; they didn’t know for how long. He was stationed half way across the world in a war zone. They talked most nights on a video chat when the internet connections were good. 

Coming from work, she’d been listening to a gardening program on the radio. She could at least have that much. Easing the car into the small garage, she deftly avoided the supplies they had started to amass. Turning the engine off she sat looking wistfully at them all. “What’s the matter with me?!” With the back of her hand she pushed wetness from her eyes. Struggling to get out of the car, she squeezed sideways, knocking precariously balanced tools to the floor, catching the trowel that was destined for the hood of the car with her one free hand. Holding her briefcase to her, she edged along the car to the door of the garage. “I’ll need clean clothes for work next week. Thank goodness it’s Friday.” 

Every night she stopped by the boulder, patted it and went into the silent house. Tonight felt different. The house was still silent, no supper on the table. There never was. Briefcase on the kitchen counter, she made a cup of coffee and just stood, thinking. “I wonder.” The kitchen computer blinked on. “Connie? Are you home yet? Connie? If you’re there, I’ve only got five minutes tonight.” Her face lit up. Glad to hear his voice, she was suddenly excited. “Five minutes? Is that all? I’ve got so much to talk with you about. It’s the garden, Peter.” He was happy to hear her excitement. He hoped she couldn’t hear the air raid sirens. “I’m in a bunker, Connie so it’s private. Tell me what’s got you all excited.” Words spilled out of her about digging the dirt, lining the pool, getting water plants, finding workmen to do what she couldn’t do, researching you-tube sites, setting stones for a path from the house, finding fish for their pond, sourcing materials. “Connie. Connie. Stop. Our five minutes are almost up. I wish I could be home to help!” She felt sick. Here she was talking all about her brilliant ideas, and her precious husband was in danger every day. She had heard the air raid sirens. “Peter, I’m sorry. I didn’t let you get a word in edgewise.” She touched his face on the cold screen. He looked so tired. “Well, sweetness, I have only one thing to add.” Smiling through his exhaustion he said: “Why not?” 

“You see things; and you say ‘Why?’ But I dream 

things that never were; and I say ‘Why not?’”

~ George Bernard Shaw

From a Distance

From a distance of today 

I see my past, 

a long dark tunnel 

with twists and turns,

bright spots and dark corners. 

To drift along that corridor without holding today’s confidence can be dangerous, too easy to slip 

into dark corners that beckon. 

are the bright spots figments of my imagination? 

I remember that naive girl, 

who still lives inside me….. 

In the sunlight of today, I count my blessings, and am grateful.

“Maybe, I thought, it’s not distance 

that’s the problem, but how you handle it.”

~ Rachel Cohn, Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares