Duck 1

Posted on April 4, 2011 by literarylee

But who'll pay the bill?

(Duck Series Gallery)

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First Salad

Posted on April 4, 2011 by literarylee

Yesterday evening we ate the first salad from the garden.  It’s hard to imagine greens (and reds) being sweet until, on an early spring day around the first of April, you harvest lettuce and spinach and endive, wash, toss into a salad bowl, and then eat.  Its texture was almost creamy, and the taste, pure sweetness.  I’m pretty sure part of its sweetness is that it came from my own garden.

Tossed goodness: the first of a long line

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Down to the River to Pray – 1

Posted on April 3, 2011 by literarylee

So surprised to hear the resignation in your voice.  I wouldn’t have expected it given all the good things going on in your life now.   Sensing you so weighed down wrinkled my brows and sagged my heart.  I look forward to your hope and energy being renewed.  Any time I’m here to listen, to learn, to accept, to love.

God, heal and save.

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Down to the River to Pray – Introduction

Posted on April 3, 2011 by literarylee

I had a remarkable experience the other day.  I was walking to work, thinking about various friends and family members, saying a simple prayer for each.  As I walked and prayed, I realized I had gone down to the river, the Idea River, in my prayers.  The supplications had expanded from a simple request to picturing the person I was praying for at the moment, talking to the person, expressing my hopes, and concerns and wishes for his or her situation.  In the past when that would have happened, I would have said, “Oh brother.  Mind wandering again.  Get back to praying.”  But now, I’m wondering if the praying was, in fact, continuing.  What excited me and rang true in those moments was the close relationship and even similarity between prayer and creativity, and the possibility that a prayer can be more than a simple, “God bless mom,” or whoever you’re praying for at the moment.

I’m going to start paying attention when my mind “wanders” during prayer.  Maybe a prayer can include images of who or what I’m praying for, feelings of worry or concern or anger connected to the pictures in my mind, and even resolutions or if not that, at least actions I could take or suggest for the subject of my prayers.  I’m also going to write them down on little pieces of real or cyber-paper and tuck them into the wall of my journal, or this blog, knowing that God is and hears and responds.

Prayer as creativity?  Creativity as prayer?  Writing (or even literary living) as piety?  Could it be?

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You’re Fifty!

Posted on April 2, 2011 by literarylee

Congrats! You’ve reached that magic age
that we consider nifty,
The point at which the fun begins,
Our friend, you now are fifty!

What would you like to do from here
is what you now can ask,
Work, study, travel, or just kick back
Decide! It’s your new task.

No matter what you choose to do
No matter the path you wend
Of one small thing you can be sure
We’re glad you are our friend.

(Written for a friend whose 50th birthday party we will attend tonight.)

 

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High Bloom

Posted on April 2, 2011 by literarylee

March 29

I walked to the Tidal Basin during my lunch hour.  The height of blossoms starts today and continues for the next three or so, yet the weather gurus predict rain and even (horrors!) a wintry mix.  The blossoms may survive the elements, but who knows, so I walked over there.  I work a walk from the cherry blossoms; how can I not?  They make an almost indescribable tableau, so lovely you want to somehow keep it, make it last forever.

Blossoms framing blossoms

Continue reading →

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The Healing Green of Sprouts Under Lights

Posted on April 1, 2011 by literarylee

March 13, 2010

I moved the lights up one link in the chain that suspends it over the beautiful, green, increasingly lush young plants.  Twelve one inch high smokey green cabbage plants stand on the far right side.  Each plant’s two true leaves and two cotyledons fan out at the 90 degree points of their axis, the tiny but amazingly sturdy stem that supports them.  Next, twelve cells with truly infant buttercrunch lettuce.  I was disappointed that this, my favorite variety of lettuce sprouted so anemically the first planting, though in a way I have only myself to blame.  I used last year’s seeds, plus I fully covered them with soil.  The first sin isn’t so bad: some of that seed germinated, though my re-planting is with this year’s seed.  The second sin, well, I’m not sure how bad it is, except the instructions on the packet and other things I’ve read say lettuce seeds need light to germinate.  The first planting has some true leaves, the second, racing to catch up with its big brothers, has just emerged.  The next rank of twelve cells holds a dozen red leaf lettuce seedlings.  Though the seed leaves are mostly green, they are tinged and ringed with a reddish hue.  I can hardly wait for more true leaves to push up and out.

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Motley Guard Detail

Posted on March 31, 2011 by literarylee

Protective snow gear for the snow, dear

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Trouble in (my garden) Paradise

Posted on March 31, 2011 by literarylee

Seed Situation

O.K. not trouble, necessarily, but issues.  Like seeds I’m starting.  Some are doing well.  I’ll have plenty of tomatoes, for example.  Also basil, cilantro, and ground cherries.  However, two that I care about a lot, eggplant and peppers, have hardly sprouted.  From two plantings that should have given me ten of each, I have four eggplant, one Anaheim and three sweet pepper seedlings.  Yikes!  There’s still time, but I’m not pleased.  What did I do wrong?

I planted sweet peppers from last year’s seeds (which shouldn’t be a problem), but I purchased the mildly hot Anaheim pepper seeds new because we discovered last year how much we love pickled peppers and they’re perfect for that.  I plan to grow a lot to pickle for us and for gifts.  And the eggplant?  Living in Jerusalem I learned to absolutely love eggplant.  I ate it all the time:  fried, roasted, in baba ghanoush.  I struggled last year with eggplant seeds, ending up with three plants and no fruit.  This year, I plan to virtually dedicate Jones to Eggplant Excellence and a corner of Smith to Pepper Production, but this is not a good start for two types of seed I’d invested with such early-Spring hope.

Satisfied Mouse Continue reading →

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The Idea River

Posted on March 30, 2011 by literarylee

Ideas strike.  Ideas infiltrate.  Ideas emerge.

They also flow.

Sometimes an idea flows into my brain, entering my awareness like a sweetly meandering river.  I admire the idea for a bit and think, “Wow, that’s great.  I’ll never forget it.”  At which point, naturally, it flows right out again, forgotten.  That’s too bad when it happens but it’s also okay.  I have come to learn the river will continue to flow.

Living literarily keeps the idea river flowing.  Balancing reading and writing, memorizing poems, playing with words, and hosting occasional literary events opens my eyes to the torrent I have come to love: words, rhythms, meanings, rhymes, ideas, images.  Acknowledging the river and giving up trying to stop or control it helps keep it moving.  Allowing its flow unstops the dam and un-sticks the floating flotsam and jetsam blocking the creative current.

Continue reading →

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