The view from down here and over there

 My view has improved since yesterday.  I can lie on the floor and look out the window. The hard floor seems to align my spine.

If I turn my head the other way there's a cool painting from Ireland I can enjoy. I like the rough brush strokes and the colors.

Getting up from the floor takes a few minutes. Each new position has to happen in stages, and then let the muscles relax enough to do the next one. That should make me slow down a bit.

I told Ron it was probably punishment for not getting to yoga classes this month. He said, "Right all you Catholics. Everything has to be a punishment!"  For the record, neither of us is Catholic, but old habits die hard.


I can do downward facing dog to stretch my legs and arms. That gives me this perspective.

Stretching like this feels delicious and dangerous. But it didn't hurt!

Standing up straight

I have a new appreciation for standing up straight because of course I am hunched over with a back spasm.

My husband knowledgeably informed me of this when he came home to find me sitting on the floor unable to move. I was so mystified by what I was experiencing I didn't mind him being right.

Earlier this afternoon, less than 30 minutes after saying goodbye to 55 seniors, having spent the last month reading 55 rough and final draft papers, 10-20 pages each, I felt a dizzy sense of freedom. Down to the farmer's market I went.

 It was hot and sunny. The ice cream truck had kids in strollers and on two little legs lined up for a treat. Lots of tents formed a little square in Waterville's Concourse downtown with vendors selling goat cheese, bread, veggies and seedlings.

Happily my favorite farm Snakeroot Farms was there. They have awesome winter carrots and a tomato resistant to blight called Defiant. Nice name.

My plan was simple. A quick stop and get home to plant the rest of the garden. The daylight is so long these days I'd have plenty of time.

All I did, and I assure you I've gone over this in my mind, all I did was bend over to get a seedling carton. On standing up an intense pain radiated through my lower back on a scale with a broken bone or child labor. It took my breath away.

I tried walking it out, down the street to the bank as I didn't have enough cash for my goods at the market. No better- rubbing it, bending over, nothing helps. Somehow I got in the car (with my tomato plants and carrots of course) and got home. Bent over, I shuffled into the house and crawled up the stairs for ibuprofen.

Several hours later, I've found sitting bent over on the couch the most comfortable. This is my view.

So I am looking at my feet, writing sub plans, composing my first of seven daily blog posts. Bad timing all the way around!

If I try hard enough, I could probably think of seven different things to write about based on my view of the floor and my feet, but I'd rather not see that happen.

So here's hoping for a substantial improvement over night in whatever the hell is going on with my back!  Stay tuned.

Don't touch my garden- snails that is

I'm normally a pretty nonviolent person, but my reaction to seeing snails eat my garden's greenery after six months of winter dormancy is lethal. I am a snail killer.


When I went to harvest some rhubarb as I cut the stems it revealed beds and beds of snails. They looked like pebbles there were so many.




By hand I found myself picking out handfuls of snails and crushing them underfoot. It's slimy gross business, but plants don't grow well when snails are nibbling away at them.

Are they attracted to the fertilizer I put down? or the mulch? or just finding their homeostatic paradise - constant moisture and fresh greens to munch on. Kind of like Peter Rabbit in Mr. McGregor's garden.

I laugh at myself for the protective streak I get for my gardens. I am a wimpy chemical user, so the most I'll do is sprinkle Rotenone, which is a root powder, to kill the cucumber and Asian beetles, and Japanese beetles I drop into soapy water, and snails- those are the bugs on my hit list. The rest, even black flies, I let live.
Just kidding.

Make Good Use of Time

A friend is on my mind who just had surgery last night to remove cancer. Imagine the shock the body goes through in a surgical procedure. It's an interruption of the balance our bodies are in everyday- organs, limbs functioning on their own without our paying attention.

In fact our attention is distracted from the everyday miracles of breathing, walking, loving by the demands and distractions of work, finances, news media, food- among various other things!

 But today I'm acutely aware of how beautiful my day will be. I'm looking out at sunlight on freshly sprung green leaves, blue sky and running river. My brain is thinking of which papers I need to read, and when I will take a bike ride.

While my friend lies in a hospital bed in the city nursed through the physical trauma, building strength and hopefully staying mentally strong.

We all want good news immediately, but that's not how it works, is it? Doctors, treatments, bodies all need time...

so I better make good use of mine.

I'm getting to the point in the spring when I can step back and enjoy how the gardens are taking shape.

 

Bleeding hearts and violets.

Primroses and feathery silvermound.

 Big foliage

This was the first extended ride of the year on mountain bikes. I'd forgotten how sharp it keeps me dodging logs, rocks, and crossing streams. The water was deliciously cold on my feet as I gave up balancing rock to rock with my bike and just waded through.

There was plenty of wet muck, animal trails, beautiful wild flowers and stormy clouds chasing us with a sprinkle here and there. My chain stuck shifting on some single track up a hilly rocky trail and I fell over.

It's kind of slow motion  though and I make a little scream every time I'm about to crash, giving Ron just enough time to turn around and see me fall. It keeps him laughing, that's for sure.

We found an awesome waterfall off the trail. A big pool deep enough to dive in, clear water and a  nice roaring drop just above the pool. We'll have to come back when it's warmer.