Stewardship in my own garden...

It's Saturday, and once again, rain is in the forecast. I'm actually pretty surprised it's not full-on raining yet, but the weather does what it wants. I'm not mad about it; the garden could use a day of rain (not monsoon, but a gentle, steady rain would be fine). The organizers of the Independence Day events moved the whole thing to tomorrow, so let's hope the day is a good one then. I kind of want to go: food trucks, pony rides, etc. could be a nice break from all the chaos in the news.

Today, I will do all the things I didn't and haven't gotten to this week. I need to do some baking, and a cooler/damp day is just what I need. I have laundry to fold, bathrooms to clean-- the usual drill. I spent yesterday afternoon with Holly, so I shoved all the house stuff to today. Not a bad trade-off at all, because we had a really nice time. 

But I'm also looking forward to a slower day today. If I get all my chores done by noon, maybe I'll sit and read for a bit. I'd like to. I finished reading and annotating a book of poems I am going to review yesterday, and I'm not quite ready to write about it. I like to have my brain put those things on simmer for a little while before I commit to the page. It's a pretty complicated collection, so simmering is necessary.

That all said, summer is in full swing. The garden has exploded; the tomato jungle is competing with the squash, and everything is lush and green. The peas are blooming and making little pea pods and the beans have not yet blossomed but the plants are robust--even the ones that a critter had eaten-- they popped back with new leaves, and are none the worse for being pruned. I really must get to the thinning of carrots-- that is meticulous work, and I have not wanted to get into that project in the heat/dry weather. I didn't want to shock the remaining plants and have them wither. That's something I have to get to, so if we do have a day of rain today, then I can get to it. 

Nature is providing bounty; I just have to be a good caretaker/steward of all the gifts. It is pretty centering to think about it like that, instead of "ugh, weeding/thinning"-- if I want good stuff, I need to be an active participant in the process. I also have more foundling herb plants to get into some pots; G rescued a bunch of sage, and I'll be glad to have it. I like to make herbed butter and put it in the freezer for winter cooking. Nothing better than a roast chicken with sage/thyme butter melting under the skin! There's life lessons in all of this, right? Be a good steward, take care of the foundlings, prepare for coming days ahead. No matter what sturm und drang the world of politics has in mind, we still have the duty -- the privilege-- of taking care of our own.

We are stardust, we are golden,

We are caught in the devil's bargain,

And we got to get ourselves

Back to the garden...

("Woodstock," Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young)

Have a good day,

C