6/1/11

6/1/11
Last February I noticed that it was a bad luck month for me. Not just 2011, but at least a couple of February's of the past also. Feb 6th seems to be an especially difficult day, even though it's B. Marley's b-day. I remember it as bad luck because it's usually the day I have had enough (of relationships, jobs, my car, crazy landlords) & I quit. It's a day of ending and in retrospect, always the birthing of something new.
Memorial Day weekend has played itself to be a good luck day and the month of May in total seems to bring great things. sunshine, flowers, family, friends,... and my birthday. In the last two weeks I have spent more time with people I'm either related to or relate to , than I have since childhood. Likely about 25 years.
On the day of reckoning my cousin go married. May 21st turned out to be a day of great expectations between the marriage of two people and the predicted apocalypse on the schedule. I hadn't been to a wedding or family function for that matter since I was just a wee small puff. Though I don't remember, I know I was there from photos. All the uncles and aunts were at the wedding as they were in the 80's family photos and my brother and I were again the only brown folks there. Of no matter, just something we realize when in large congregations of people; something to laugh about.
Lil' bro and I actually missed the ceremony (we were 15 minutes late) but did drive through the squall of a downpour that rolled through while the bride and groom were exchanging vows. A purifying blessing of water from above. Good luck right? I think so.
The wedding was beautiful and it was awesome to see the folks I'm related to and the funny thing is that even after not seeing most of them for over 20 years, outside of the graying hairs and round tummies, everyone looked exactly the same! Hardly aged. My cousin is from the Duff side (mom's) of the family. Not big huggers or dancers, but a kooky, hilarious, intelligent, and sarcastic clan that I'm glad to belong to.

The fun continued...

This past holiday weekend was the time which really should have been prophesy. A momentous couple of days in my life at least. Though the only way prophecies come true is if they aren't expected. Monumental events are never seen coming. They follow the black swan theory. If they are to happen they can not be envisioned. They must be kept a secret, never discovered in that ancient tomb, if they are to manifest. Though a prophecy attempts to predict the future, all that really matters is after the fact if it's fulfilled. My attempt to philosophize...
This weekend was like an aligning of distant stars when my all my siblings and fiance congregated here in the Catskills. The weather was a nasty hot humid mess welcomed after days of rain, but so very sweaty, especially when hiking. Saturday we walked the property and hiked one of the only marked trails on Menla's property. Though there were blue dots on the trees marking the trail, the path was nonexistent. Winter's melt and spring's rains washed out ant footpath that may have been. It was treacherous and I found it extremely difficult and unsatisfying having to climb up loose, unstable rocks covered in deep leaves. We never made it to the top.
Half way up I found a massive fruiting of oyster mushrooms. Fresh and pure white, like a lantern hanging on an old dead stump. I harvested maybe 5 lbs. and after convincing everyone to help me carry them down the mountain, made it back to the house and fried them up. Though scared of being poisoned or finding them disgusting, the family tried them and loved them! It was a great family moment harvesting choice mushrooms from the wild and eating them. A first but hopefully not a last.
We had not all been together since Dad's 60th birthday 5 years ago. I had an awesome time and am glad to be on the east coast closer to them and at a place where they can come and chill and nature out. "See ya next weekend!" hasn't been something I could say living out west, since my lil' bro was a pre-teen. Moving away when he was 12, I missed out on 1/2 of him growing up. Now we are buds.
My older bro is exactly that, the big brother. Though he may have cared for me growing up, (he's only a year older than me, almost to the day) he didn't really show it, neither did I. Now that we've made it out of crazy youth, I love hanging out with him. He's supportive and interested in me and my abilities. Feels good.
My sister is radiant as usual. beautiful, healthy, in shape, and happy! She always makes me feel so loved and seems so happy to see me. Zach, her fiance, is rad. he's smart, fun, and responsible... and he loves my sister. I'm really glad he'll be a part of the family... I think he kinda already is!
Now that they have all been here I expect they'll come back. I think this place is better than they had anticipated. Maybe later in the summer when the garden's bombastic and fantastic.

5/27/11

5/27/11

Two nights ago I witnessed the most spectacular thunder and light show of my life. The weather service issued a tornado warning for Phoenicia for late in the afternoon. Winds up to 60 mph, 1" hail, thunder, flash floods, and cloud-to-ground lightening. Sounds like what I thought the rapture would be like. I hear that if it did happen on May 21st as predicted, the apocalyptic epicenter was going to be somewhere in the Hudson Valley.) The warning was issued for 7-10 pm. A three hour window of prediction meant that was going to hit hard and fast. The weather had been unsettling, warm, humid, and that 'too calm' feeling; hot breezes would waft in. I've learned that severe weather follows. Just like the crazy gold color the sky turns right before a rainbow manifests from the clouds. (I always picture that color sky when I hear Bob Marley's 'Rainbow Country').
I went downtown to satisfy my craving for cheese fries w/ gravy and about an hour or so later while sitting on the patio, I heard a crack and rumble of thunder that stopped everyone in their tracks. I thought "I better get the hell outta here!" and ran for my car, which may not have been the best idea. (All I know is that tires are rubber and rubber is insulating. What would happen if a car was struck by lightening anyway?)
A sheet of a downpour hit, raindrops the size of of marbles, the lightening, and thunder waged a war of who-came-first. There was no counting Mississippi. The storm was right on top of us. It was like the 4th of July, the sky lit up with flashes so bright , strikes so powerful, there is no way they weren't touching ground. I began to see ghost flashes, trails of the last strikes while being bombarded by the next... and I was driving... very slowly. I made it home safely and went to bed feeling the thunder rumble through the ground. Like the man upstairs was clearing his throat, commanding the world's attention. I love storms like that. Sky shows are rare in the PNW even though it's known for rain, it's more like living in a constant fog.

5/23/11

5/23/11

I wish it would stop raining... I know it's needed to make the garden grow, but inly if followed by sun. At this point the week and a half of rain is just rotting my seeds. T-storms and upper 60's today but partly sunny 70-80's for the next two days. Hooray!

Later...
The sun came out something glorious today. A welcomed break after enduring 10 days of thunderstorms & torrential rains. A perfect car washing day... though I didn't get around to washing the El Camino. I could feel my seedlings sigh with relief for the sun and get to growing. I spent the day planting containers and window boxes with annual flowers. Though they are the short lived candy fluff of the plant world, they get the 'exploding color' job done.
Monday I'd gone shopping with Nena, Uma's mom, and had a blast! Though most employees here have a healthy fear of her, as I mentioned before, I see eye to eye with her and she likes my work. I've heard that past gardeners have not been trusted by Nena to do a good job, but I'm guessing she trusts my eye and my skills after seeing the work I've done in the garden so far. She let me know that she thought the garden was beautiful and thanked me; tow compliments rarely spoken by Nena. That's a big high 5 to me!
At the nursery we went aisle to aisle - annuals to veges to perennials to trees and shrubs - putting flat after flat on our carts of anything and everything that caught our eyes. I LOVE to plant shop! It really doesn't get any better. We ended up buying three, 3-tiered carts full of stuff plus a couple water lilies for the pond and some larger perennials.
I'm a pretty thrift gardener, knowing that harvesting from the wild (ferns, wildflowers, etc.) and dividing plants can save $ and fill a landscape for free. So when I have no budget like this day, I go crazy. We got spilling color with 5 types of petunias & calibrachoa, stature from snapdragons and 3 kinds of marigolds (I love orange flowers), and shade color with impatiens. (Yuck! Not my choice. I think they are the cheap hoes of the flower world.) We got trailers and fillers with lotus vine and black ipomoea batatas.
I dug ostrich ferns (ones who's fiddle heads are so tasty) from in front of one of the wooded cottages where I also spotted the elusive cobra lily (arisaema)... so cool! I planted the 3' tall ferns in stately planters framing the main entrance.
We also got an assortment of perennials to fill in gaps in the main flower beds in front of the same building. A couple of varieties of coreopsis, 'autumn joy' sedum, cranesbill, and a bad ass echinacea called 'hot papaya'. I filled in smaller areas in the back of the bed against the wall with cosmos and snapdragons nearer the foreground. Looks pimpin'!
Today I will finish planting the annual containers with the help of my assistant.* I think he'll be stoked to plant because he's been pulling weeds for days. I hope it doesn't rain.
I also harvested the comfrey, a plant ingredient in the compost tea I'm going to make. The recipe for tea calls for a combination of:

comfrey (Ca, K, P)
borage (vitamin C, K, Ca)
nettles (silica, Ca, also a compost accelerator)
alfalfa (N, P, K, S, Fe, Zn, & B... complete food)
Other plants such as yarrow and chamomile add nutrients too.
Good stuff! I put the comfrey in 5 gallon buckets, filled them with water, and weighted them down with a rock. It will quickly break down into a stinky slurry and I'll strain it and add some of this concentrate to my 55 gallon rain barrel. The other plants I'll dry and grind up then put in a muslin sack, like a giant T-bag, so that they steep but are easily removable. I'll put an aquarium bubbler in the bottom to aerate and add unsulfured molasses to feed the beneficial 'micro herd'. These are tiny organisms which help plants to fight diseases and pathogens and improve bad soil by supplying power to soil health. I'm excited to make my own plant food. It's inexpensive and harvested from the garden and surrounding woods. It's like mixing my own soil, it gives assurance to things working out well because I know exactly what's gone in. Not just the ingredients, but also the care and love to give them the best.

*Since I type my entries from my journal i am always a few days behind. Turns out having my assistant help with containers wasn't such a good idea. He can stick to pulling weeds.

Lovin' this song today

Lloy Price - Stagger Lee

The first censored rock n roll record to be a #1 hit.

I wish I had a poodle skirt, some bobby socks, and a bad ass dance partner.




Now that's a card game.

5/20/11

I've watched the birds return along with the warming spring and trees flowering. Most I've initially seen here on my porch at the bird feeder - really a saucer for a plant pot, 12" wide and like 2" deep. Like I've mentioned, Jr. fills it a couple times a day and mad critters feed, likely sustaining life for at least making everyone a bit fatter.
Though the dove still fly away when I come out to the porch, most of the other birds, the chipmunks, and even the gray squirrels have become less intimidated. Reluctant at first, but then cautiously continue to the seed bowl.
The most timid was the red squirrel. Just blinking would send him running. While there are many chipmunks and a few gray squirrels, there seems to be only one red squirrel. I know this because of a battle scar he has on the right side of his underbelly. At first it was a huge nipple, but now I see it's the only one. (My neighbor told me a red squirrel built a nest above his ceiling and he put a live trap out and caught one. It got stuck in the rap's door and my buddy had to let him out. I'm thinking that's where the scar came from.)
When red comes to the feeder he clears the scene of all other life by chirping and lunging in each direction like a pit bull on a choke chain. Everyone scatters. He thinks he's the king of the seed. Just not down with sharing; not even with a chickadee.
This is the omnivorous squirrel. The egg stealer. After thinking he was the cutest rodent in the forest, I'd come to have disdain for him. Little hog... wants it all for himself. Mine, mine, mine! He even patrols the ground surrounding the porch.
I watched The Fighter the other night and was influence to name lil squirrel Mickey, the lil' red Irish scrapper. aka Mickey McSquirrel the Red. Little troublemaker. He's willing to go toe-to-toe with anyone regardless of size. His intimidation works.
One day after works I found myself talking to him. "Who the hell do you think you are?! Hoggin' the food bowl... Those gray squirrels are twice your size and those jays could kick your ass!... Fuckin' egg stealer!" I picked up a dried cob of corn Jr. had strewn across the porch, popped the kernels off, and catapulted them at him, like an exploding bomb... full of corn. A cornbomb. he hardly flinched. So I reloaded with more and pelted him again... and again. He stood up,barked at me, picked up a corn, and ate it. Well goddamn.
Little Mickey truly has no fear. brave lil' mother fucker. He stares me straight in the eye and doesn't give a fuck. I guess he knows he's faster. I'd never catch him... bet he's never seen a BB gun.
No. I have no want to kill the lil bully. I have made amends with his rudeness. He just wants to get what's his. His fill of easy seed with no competition. No one wants to meet his challenge and probably for good reason. He's a stand-up guy. A survivor.

5/19/11

It's been amazing watching spring waken things up here. I left Seattle in late March where the plums and magnolias were rockin' and the daffodils were on the way out. I feel like I flew back in time arriving in NY, with snow still hiding the ground, though I actually flew ahead in time.
The forest was naked You could see far up the mountains. Winds would roar through the forest like a freight train coming from over the hill behind my house, bringing sleet, freezing rain, and nameless other violent precipitation.
Then the red maples broke bud and spring was here. It's irreversible. Daffodils, other maples (I have yet to meet), wood violets, forsythia, the oaks, the elms, columbine, betulaceae, ash, magnolias, garlic broccoli weed, cherries, tulips, apple, dogwood, wild mustard, elderberry, and lilac have flowered... in that order.
There are fantastic thunderstorms and downpours rolling outside. I can't believe it's rained like this for 5 days and they expect another few. Maybe not as dramatic but nonetheless, I've experienced winter torn to spring on the east coast for the first time in 15 years and back then I hardly paid attention to what was going on with the plants.
It's excellent to have new trees, flowers, mushrooms, and animals to get to know. To be stimulated by nature familiar, yet unknown to me. There are always more species to encounter, to ID, and to appreciate. To cultivate and to use. A minute to learn and a lifetime to master, just like Othello.
And when an area becomes too familiar, I find a different ecosystem to feed my curiosity be it in day trips to the beach or a mountain meadow, or moving to the CA desert or NE hardwood forest. It's all new and overwhelming at first, but like good friends , you get to know each other, hear each others histories and fears. Understanding and feeling comfortable with each other. Being real and still having secrets to reveal.