Ten Days of Little Celebrations - June 2014

Noticing something worth celebration each day is an easy thing for me to do. The habit of writing it down reminds me to be grateful for these and a myriad of other things in my life. This month has been full of ‘little celebrations;’ here are my top 10 for June 2014. I’ve categorized them into 4 groups: outdoors, food, and courses and people.

Outdoors

Oak trimming (and discovering the oak marble). Finishing the annual trimming of the oak was worth a celebration but it was made even better this year with the finding of the oak marble. It was the first time I had ever seen anything like tit.

Therapy bush trimming. There is always some to be learned about myself during time spent trimming the bush. I celebrated that it happened this month (and look forward to at least one more time during the summer).

Brookside. We walk around Brookside at least once a month and it is always enjoyable but with the construction going on this summer we are looking for alternatives. I celebrated June’s visit since it will be the last one to Brookside for a few months.

Green tomatoes. My deck garden has gotten off to a reasonably good start. I have 11 tomatoes on two plants! I’m celebrating their progress and hope to report other colors soon (and then move them to the ‘food celebration’ category.

Food

Community Support Agriculture. My first experience with the CSA has been worth celebrating. The fresh veggies are getting eaten.

Watermelon. I didn’t wait for the local melons. The grocery store had a bin and the one I got was excellent.

Kale chips. They taste good - and are nutritious too! Even my husband - not usually big on veggies - liked them.

Courses

Thought provoking classes - The Paradoxes of War class I started this month on Cousera has been very thought provoking….and I am celebrating that I signed up for it.

The survival of people in harsh reality - The Nubians survived harsh climate and the Ancient Egyptians to produce their vibrant culture - that’s the main take away from The Art and Archaeology of Ancient Nubia course that I just finished on Coursera. I am celebrating their accomplishment; they help us realize that the ancient Egyptians were not the only ancient people to apply extreme creativity toward improving their lives.

People

People. There are so many people related celebration days this month that were highlighted by Father’s Day, telephone calls from (and to) family members and meeting new people.

The Therapy Bush

Back in 2012 - I wrote a post about the therapy bush. I still feel the same way about it:  the trimming job is an opportunity to do some thinking about just about everything. Here’s the report from the first 2014 trimming.

The bush had needed a trim for at least a month. Every time my husband backed out of the garage, the branches brushed the side of his car. Maybe I noticed them more from my vantage point in the passenger seat. We had been having a lot of rainy days and I learned to not trim the bush when the tiny flowers were open (too many insects) - one morning this week was my opportunity to spend some quality time with the bush.

I thought the morning would be a good time since the temperature was the lowest it would be for the day. I neglected that the bush gets morning sun. The sun felt like it was burning my exposed skin almost immediately but I was determined. Working fast became a goal.  Random thoughts percolated:

• There is always something more that needs to be done in the yard. I made a mental list.
• I liked that my daughter was trying to grow tomatoes on her patio --- wishing I could be around to see the positive results. She is on the other side of the country and I’m feeling the separation more these days.
• Moving is going to be wrenching when it happens. I like the big trees and the walls of green they make. They hide a lot of potential ugliness. I was thinking about what my perfect house would have but then decided that people I live with are more important than the house.
• The melding of tangent thoughts to the Coursera courses I am taking. It isn’t obvious that such diverse topics as Nubia, Global Health, Chronic Pain, and Exoplanets would have linkages but they somehow do. Ancient Nubia and Global Health are a lot about Africa. The image of obese royalty in ancient times is also another link between those two courses - and to Chronic Pain course as well. One of the connections between Chronic Pain and Exoplanets is the understanding of diverse skillsets needed to make progress in many fields.

It took about an hour to finish the job. I was hot and itchy by that time but snapped an ‘after’ image. I carried the trimmings - and some rotten parts of the bush that fell away as I was trimming - back to the edge of the forest. Going into the cool of the house afterwards felt very good!