Day Two - 1,000 Words of Summer

NOTE: Part two in my 1,000 Words of Summer writing project. Raw, rambling & submitted for anyone who is willing to read such drivel. I did get quite a bit closer to 1,000 words on this one. Who knows what day three will look like? Haven't started that yet...

Saturday, May 30, 2020 - 12:30 PM - 1,000 Words of Summer, Day Two:

I started my interest in gardening to feed my interest in photography. I wanted to capture birds, butterflies, bees - things that have always made me stop and look, Sometimes these moments are far too brief, fleeting and I wanted to preserve them in all their spectacularity. One of the things I ponder about gardening, is how it’s ultimately an exercise in patience. No matter how careful you are in doing all the right things - and this is true whether you plant an actual seed, or transplant a seedling that you bought at a garden center, there is a lot of waiting for things to turn out.

On any given day, you’ve watered and taken note of the progress of a plant in the soil. The flower, fruit or vegetable will appear in its own time - not yours. The thought that something small like a Sunflower seed, can turn into a huge stalk of a plant with big, gorgeous flowers in less than twelve weeks if amazing. I have monitored these plants and quite a few more, every year for the past 5 years. Patience. 

On one hand, I’m patient. On the other, I want results. Sunflowers and Mexican Sunflowers draw various birds, bees and butterflies - all can be amazing photographic opportunities. They also provide a lot for the eye to take notice of even if one doesn’t want to photograph them. So I look forward to their arrival in all their glory, I want to see them in full bloom.

The down side to this is that those two specific types of flowers don’t bloom until mid to late Summer. Maybe it’s just my own perception, but that’s the point in the season where Mother Nature seems to step on the accelerator a bit too heavy. The warm, sunny days go by too quickly, and if you’re not paying attention to all these seemingly tiny moments of beauty, they’ll pass you by and you’ll have missed out.

Seeds, even the ones that are most hardy, get off to a rather pathetic start sometimes. Maybe that’s something that I notice more after a few years of planting various flowers to draw bees, birds and butterflies. Four years ago, I bought a packet of Mexican Sunflower seeds because the picture on the packet looked interesting. I wanted to know what these things looked like. Turns out they are much more stunning to see when they bloom - and they bloom late into the Fall. But the biggest, and best surprise was finding out that they draw Humming Birds and Monarch Butterflies. Bumblebees are also quite a sight on these flowers, so with all that going on, I plant more of those than any other flower.

I’ve had success with various types of Sunflowers, including the beautiful Mammoth variety - I’ve had a couple of those grow to heights over ten feet in the air, stalks as thick as a broom handle. The sad thing about this variety of Sunflowers is that it’s usually one flower per massive stalk, and while they are gorgeous when they bloom, it’s a relatively short time before they get ugly and they offer up nothing else.

I’ve found that some of the red varieties of Sunflowers will offer up several blooms per stalk, and some of the deep, deep red looks amazing against a blue Summer sky. You wait for this kind of beauty. After a few seasons your anticipation for it turns to being anxious. All in good time - and to me it’s well worth taking the time to stop and notice. These flowers are guaranteed to draw Goldfinches and bumblebees - the former are most colorful in their beautiful mix of bright yellow, black & bits of clean white. The latter are a sight to see, loaded down with pollen falling off of them.

Again, beauty like this is a waiting game. And we’re talking mid Summer at the earliest. That’s why I labored this year to get things planted that look good and draw Humming Birds now. It’s nice to walk out in the mornings and look at the progress of plants, particularly when I planted them from seeds, but why not have a few things out there that look good now, while I’m waiting for the headliner?

It’s certainly helped having the time with this shelter in place stuff - of course that made me venture out to the store a few times when it wasn’t quite so essential, but I’ve got to do things - even if I am staying home more. There’s something incredibly satisfying about admiring plants grow, knowing that when I walk away from them today, I’ve done the best I can to nurture them. I’ll walk outside tomorrow, most likely won’t notice any difference at all, certainly nothing significant and I’ll do that for quite a few days to follow. I’ll look when I walk by on my way to my car to drive to work, and when I come home I will probably take note of how things look in the dark of night. Soon. When? Soon. The important things right now are to keep looking, keep noticing and nurturing…and patience. In good time. Peace, good people. I’ve made it to nearly 900 words today. Perhaps if you’re reading this, you’re thinking I’m rambling too much, but stuff like this is part of what I love about Summer.

1,000 Words of Summer

Note: The following post is from a link that was shared with me about a writing project entitled, 1,000 Words of Summer. Anyone taking part in this project is instructed to write 1,000 words daily. I'm not sure that I'm following protocol here three days in. To me, the most important thing is to write. Given the title of the project, I'm choosing to write about the things I enjoy in the Summer months. I'm not sure how interesting my sharing them will be - but here ya go:

Friday, May 29, 2020

I’m supposed to write a thousand words today. I wonder how many thousand I’ll think? Even if I don’t write them, or don’t try to write them, at least that many will be thought. I’m supposed to be writing that amount for the next two weeks, and daily - though the only thing that will regiment that is me.

The project is called 1,000 Words of Summer. I’m not quite sure what the objective here is, other than to get me writing. The title makes me want to write about the things I associate with, and love about Summer. Things like gardening, foods I eat in the warmer months and the ways I prepare them. Riding my bicycle more, spending mornings on my patio with my coffee and my writing, and trying to capture tiny moments of beauty in nature that  happen during the Summer months, with my camera.

This Summer is different. We’re still in a pandemic that has greatly affected most of us. It’s changed the very way I make my living - and not for the better. I don’t know if it will ever get back to normal. Within the thousand words that are my target number, I don’t know what I’m allowed to say and where I’m allowed to put it if I do choose to say it - because damn near everything is politicized these days.

Having an opinion that differs from someone else’s can get you in a lot of trouble, even in the land of the free. Speaking out on any of the injustices and flaws this country may have, is far too often taken as being unpatriotic. When is fixing something that clearly needs fixing unpatriotic. When you fix things, you make them better. I’ll just say that there are things that need fixed. Doesn’t mean my country is terrible, it means we need to fix some things.

It’s a bit like a kid with his first car, which may well have good bones, but is more of a work in progress in terms of looking and running better, but the kid is proud to have and drive the car. I guess the trick is diplomacy in pointing out or talking about what needs fixed. One might not see enough of it these days, but it’s possible to point out and discuss the things that need fixed without losing admiration for the car. It’s seen better days, and it could still them again. There are still good things in abundance about the car, let’s not focus too much on the fact that much of the front end is a mess of Bondo right now. I’m speaking metaphorically, of course - and I’ll stop here with the metaphors, lest someone assume I’m unpatriotic, communist or a multitude of other things that I assure you I am not.

So here we are at the start of Summer, albeit a rather trying Summer. I’m nearing 450 words right now. I’d like to be able to say more things about the metaphorical Bondo car, but instead, I’m going to shift my focus on the things I enjoy about Summer and talk (write) a bit about what those things are to me and how they move me. I have no idea if anyone else will find such writing interesting, and my own goal in this 1,000 Words of Summer thing is to get me to start writing more.

There are other things I need to do to be more productive and feed my creative soul, things that would be much better than binge watching anything or spending too much time on social media. Things like reading more, learning more, spending time on the things that I really want to get better at for the simple reason they are things that I really enjoy and am fascinated with - such as graphic design and photography.

So I end up with 600 words on the first day. I’ll take it, & I’ll be back tomorrow, a bit more focused on Summer. More words? Less? Stay tuned. Peace, good people.

Faith Restored...or at least...REMINDING us

These are tough times - unprecedented times too. We tend to want answers and solutions much more immediately than times like this will give them. All of this is inconvenient to say the least, and on a grand scale, read, a global scale...it's frightening. Mere weeks ago, this virus was something off in a foreign land. Rumors spread fast, yet most of us didn't think that the virus could - or would, spread faster than even the rumors.

Two weeks ago, I was at work. People were smiling at me from across the dining room, waiving with their elbows. It was funny. At its worst moments, I had customers asking me if this virus thing was hurting our business. March is a tough month for my industry, and there are a lot of things that make that so, this is something that could end up killing my industry. And people - lot of them.  I don't want to panic, but certainly we all see the need to be concerned here overall - and not just for any of our own interests. We're all in this together, and we all need one another so much more than we often act like we do - or even give value to. If this thing doesn't wake us up to that statement enough to do the better for one another that we need to be doing on the regular, then I doubt it will be the virus that dooms us.

There's some humor around, but it's clouded by the serious thoughts of this situation - in the span of a few weeks, what was once a virus in a far off land is now like the scene in Monty Python & The Holy Grail, where the guy was running towards the castle from hundreds of yards off. Each time the guards, one of which was eating an apple, looked at the approaching danger it was too far off to be alarmed. And then the intruder was on them, shoving a sword into the mid section of one of the guards and rushing into the castle past the other, who simply said, "Hey..."

Yeah, it's a bit like that. Less than a month ago we were at work. I doubt that many of us thought we'd be here now. There may have been some concern that if things got worse, we were ill prepared for such things in terms of medical facilities, supplies and personnel. Who would've thought that the concern over having enough stock clerks and cashiers would also become essential?

Like many others, I'm worried - and far beyond my own concerns. This is global. All of us on this one planet, each of us having but this one earthly journey. I read something about anticipatory grief this morning, which is basically imagining the future and the worst case scenario. Maybe anticipatory grief may well be a trait of human nature out of reaction when we get bad news - or rumors of it. My grandmother used to have a saying: Don't borrow trouble.

In today's climate, it's pretty tough not to borrow trouble. I don't want to rant political here. Rants don't usually age well. At the same time, it's hard not to get upset about things during these trying times. So I'll do something that shines light on something very heartwarming and wonderful and at a time when we need that kind of thing more than we ever have:

This morning a friend of mine posted something wonderful on her Facebook page. She got out of the house and while driving down her street, she passed a neighbor's house that had a table out front of it. On the table were various food items - including toilet paper, all set out for anyone who needed it. Can we all just take a minute to think about how wonderful that is at a time like this? Because it is.
Every time I go to the grocery store, the vibe is a bit worse than the previous time. The only thing I've come to expect staying the same, is that there's no toilet paper, sanitizer or disinfecting wipes. I've seen shelves with more on them at stores that have been running going out of business liquidation sales. Weeks ago, someone pulled up beside me at the grocery store in an Audi Q5. I thought to myself, "Man, I want a car like that." - last night every time someone walked by me wearing a mask, not unlike the disposable ones I wore & discarded regularly at a job I worked years ago, I thought "Man, I want a mask - now!"

So here is what my friend drove by, today - a day where things have gotten a bit worse and may still get worse before they get any better - please just look at this and think of the mindset of the person who put this in front of their house - for me, it's the best thing I'll see all day - maybe even all week.

 That. Is. Wonderful. I hope this warms your heart as much as it does mine. My worries haven't eased a bit, but for the moment they're overshadowed by this wonderful photograph, and that has made this day, in these troubling times, a bit easier. More than that, I hope you all stay safe and healthy. Peace, good people.

CRO

The C-word: The A-hole who sits next to you

I haven't posted here in quite a while. It's not as if my thoughts stopped running rampant through my mind - believe me, that never happens. Even when I'm sleeping, there's usually some f'd up dream that I wake up from thinking "ok...what the hell was that all about?" My point is, it never really stops.

So now, on a sunny Sunday morning that happens to be the first day of March (Thank God, because if nothing else, March is a big step towards Spring...even in Cleveland), I'm sitting here with my thoughts that have been fermenting over the last couple of months. Quite frankly, many of those thoughts are on cancer and how the dreaded C-word is the proverbial asshole who sits closer to you than you'd like them to. Sometimes it's easy enough to get up and move, other times the asshole doesn't stay long enough to negatively impact your life. Then there are times when no matter what you do, you can't get away from them.

I don't want to go into a lot of detail here - no names, out of respect for other people's privacy and what they are dealing with, going through and carrying around. Make no mistake about it though - everyone is dealing with, going through and carrying around something that we know little or nothing about. Yes, everyone. So without giving specifics, I'll just say that the asshole is now sitting right next to me. Long before the seat was taken, I'd had enough of the a-hole destroying the lives of good people. It doesn't matter if I'm close in anyone's inner circle, or on the outer fringe of acquaintance, I've had it with this asshole - I hate them.

The best we can hope for with this particular asshole, is that they give us a good scare and then give up and decide to leave us alone. They may have enlightened us on the how to of shifting our thought priorities onto the things that are really important on our earthly journey - and whether or not we'll admit or show it, from that point on we'll always be looking over our shoulder. That's because the thing about assholes is, they never know when to stop being assholes - nor do they give a fuck. Assholes are relentless and have no mercy. That's what makes them assholes.

So best case scenario, we get a good scare. Worst case scenario, we get destroyed, physically, emotionally, financially - and in any other ways you can think of. Throw in several more ways that none of us would have ever thought of. So fuck the C-word. For everything it's put anyone I care about through, and the other people who care, for every wonderful person it's taken from us, for every horrible thing it's made any of us go through. Forgive the vulgarity here, but this asshole doesn't care what it puts anyone through, nor how many other lives it destroys in whole or in part. Make no mistake about it, it's a lot of them.

So now this a-hole is sitting closer to me than I want them to. I want to sit here and mind my own business, keep my disbelief to myself. I want someone to understand how this may hurt me, how it's hurting me now, and how much I don't want anyone (much less anyone I love) to be bothered by this a-hole. Here's the thing though: No matter how afraid, concerned, depressed, hurt or worried I am over this, and no matter what I may do or have to do to help someone else or myself get through this, it's not about me. 

In an election year that has the most fucked up political climate we've ever seen to date, why is there no candidate talking about a war on the asshole that sits too close to all of us at one time or another? Why isn't there someone pandering to the hatred for this asshole and vowing to take them out for all of us? We have enough food for people, we have enough knowledge by this point to know how important people are to act on the fact that we're all in this together. So why is no one leading chants to lock this asshole up? It seems to me that banishing this asshole from destroying or taking another life is more important than a wall - because no wall can keep this asshole out. Oblivious to borders, this asshole is. Seems more important than free education too - because this asshole doesn't care if there's a doctorate or a GED when they walk into a life. Don't try hiding behind a bible or a cross either - this asshole will sit right next to you in church too, without a thought about what you put in the collection basket. The war on drugs? Please. Look, there are lots of issues - and that's not really unique to this election year. I'm tired of this asshole having carte blanche. There you have it - my thoughts as I go through my caffeine for the day.

Be kind to one another, good people - and please let the people you love in your life know that you love them. And please don't forget that everyone you cross paths with is dealing with, going through or carrying something in their lives that is all of the following and then some: awful, bad, cruel, depressing, emotional, f'd up, grief-inducing, hard, irrational, justified - NOT, karma-driven, losing, mean, non-sensical, outrageous, painful, quieting, remorseful, sad, terrifying, unfair, vicious, woeful, X-TREMELY difficult, your choice here ________, and Z...well, you get the picture hopefully. We just never know.  For those of you who either have dealt with the C-word, or are dealing with it now in any way - no matter how close the asshole is sitting to you, my heart goes out to you - and more than I can express, I know. Our lives are made up of years, from months, weeks, days, hours, minutes and seconds - and in every one of those subdivisions is the potential for incredible meaningful moments because of the most important thing of all: PEOPLE. Let's make the subdivisions COUNT  -because whether or not a proverbial asshole sits next you, we just never know. Peace, good people.

CRO