Why Garden?

I was kinda whining to a non-gardening friend about my gardening pests and poor yields and freakishly early mornings (5:30-8:00am) and such. She just turned to me and asked, "How the heck do you keep doing it? I would have ripped those plants out of the ground long ago!"

Got me thinking a bit.

I gave her the first answer that popped into my head: because I love it. But that's not very specific. What do I love about it?

• I love that the plants already know how to make fruit. I just create a nurturing environment and keep the pests to a manageable level and they do all the real work. I just stand back and marvel.

• I love nurturing something that gives me food. Food is my love language. Food is almost my *only* language. It anchors me to life and people. It's a creative outlet. A way to explore other cultures. Good food shared with friends/family fills my soul.

Those are the easy parts to love. I also love the harder parts...

• Discovering a new problem and working through frustration again and again before reaching some sort of resolution/compromise. Patience and persistence and more patience.

• Learning in layers. There's no way I can read every book and get it perfect the first season. Or the tenth season. I've got to let go of perfection and simply accept progress as my ultimate goal.

Lettuce patch decimated by bunnies. Rhubarb hen-pecked nearly to death. Green beans happy and healthy and productive!

Sprint Triathlon!

I went to church this morning with big, black numbers written on my arms and leg...in Sharpie...I couldn't have felt stronger!

The body markings came from competing in the Stoneman Sprint Triathlon in Springfield, IL, yesterday morning. It was a team effort, of course :) I swam in Lake Springfield for 500 yards, Linda biked for 12 miles, and Karen ran the 5k at the end. It was kind of a psychological AND physical stretch for each of us, which made it one heck of an accomplishment.

I must confess, though, that my favorite part of this whole affair was spending time with those two...phenomenal...ladies.

Team Wigglytuffs

It's show time, baby!

The end of my swim. Feeling strong and totally awesome!

The lake was a balmy 82 degrees. It tasted like dirt. I couldn't see my hand in front of my face, much less the legs and arms of my fellow swimmers, but it was a pretty good first run. They still haven't posted the results :( but each one of us felt like we did better than our usual times.

[31 July UPDATE: Our team placed third in Female Relay! There were only three teams in that division, but a 14:31 swim, 44:18 bike, and 39:01 run are solid times we're proud of! I'm delighted.]

This was a "Sprint" level triathlon, meaning it's shorter than the average triathlon. I've run a 5k before, I've biked 12 miles before, and now I've swum 500 yards in a lake. Maybe, just maybe, I could do all three in a row someday. Maybe even next year?

I can't believe I'm actually thinking about doing it again.

There's a "Mini" level triathlon only 30 minutes from here happening in a couple weeks. That one is 100 yards in an outdoor pool, a 5 mile bike ride, and a 1 mile run on a shady, paved path. Alice could do it with me side-by-side. I kinda tossed the idea her way and she's mulling it over. She wants to try swimming 100yds at once first. Then maybe we'll go on a couple 5-mile bike rides and see how it feels...

Keep Coming Back

I keep coming back to this blog, wanting to blog about something, but I sit down and open a fresh page and just stare at it.

I don't have anything to write.

But I WANT to write. I want to feel connected to my life again. Present. The blog often makes that connection for me, so I can live my life and appreciate it, too. Warts and all.

So, I can tell you about my life and what I do all day with the kids and the garden. I can post recent pictures and talk about the events, but I'm actually looking for a state of mind...something more elusive...something more satisfying.

*sigh*

I just want life to slow down a little so I can catch up.

California trip!

Prepare for a bunch of photos and not much analysis. This trip happened so fast, so furious, that I never had a moment to reflect or process the events. It's not my favorite way to vacation, but it was fun at the time :) I didn't take a single photo at Disneyland proper.

Bobby and I kept asking the kids what their favorite part of the trip was so far. Probably 90% of the time it was whatever we had just finished doing. I think that's a pretty good success rate, right? Or our kids found the pace just as disorienting as I did :)

This is a nice summary picture. One part of one moment in focus, going somewhere, happy about it, all the rest of the details a bit fuzzy.

I love how putting your palms on the window somehow makes the experience better.

So excited for the airplane!

Had to get a picture next to the "pretend human" that Matthew spotted at the airport.

Hotel pool time with cousins!

Yeah, those shirts are pretty bright. That's why I picked them for our first day doing the Disney stuff.

Matthew couldn't ride on much, which is probably why 2-year-olds are free, but he enjoyed the few bits he could.

Chew-chew train.

Matthew was asleep, or he might have enjoyed the Ferris Wheel with us.

Ice cream and Italian Ice after our first exhausting day. Robert tried Rocky Road for the first time only because I accidentally forgot it had nuts in it. He grumbled a little, but ate every bit.

Matthew + soft serve = a forest of napkins and a bath. Every time.

This was the first time I had seen a berry-flavored dip/shell for soft serve ice cream. James isn't very good with cones, either, but he loves them to bits.

Checking out some tide pools at the beach.

We love cousin time!

Matthew spent this outing terrified of the waves ant water. He kept trying to reach "Dry sand! Dry sand, Mommy!"

I love it when the kids stand in height order. Here we are being brave with the "waves." I'm glad my sister's family came along. They made it much more fun. It was an overcast day and this was a preserved area, so the kids couldn't really swim or collect anything.

Medieval Times!

So, so tired of everything. So many lines. So much sun. Late nights. Fast food. James was the canary in the coal mine, always the first to lose it or wilt or need a break.

Beach walk with our friends the Andersens!

So many little lives to care for. This picture just seems to capture it for me.

The kids love hotels! They share beds and wrestle get annoyed with each other, but always look forward to it again.

We visited a public beach with lots of "dry sand" and Matthew loosened up. By the end of the morning, he was actually standing knee-deep in the waves with me saying "hello" and "goodbye" to each one as it ebbed and flowed.

Bobby took Alice and Robert a little deeper where they could actually dive into the waves and body surf a little. That looked like fun! James preferred to collect sand fleas in a bucket.

At the airport again on our way home. He's trying to look all disinterested for the camera, but he sat on this windowsill for half an hour watching planes take off and land.

Alice and Robert listened to audio books at every available moment on this trip.

All in all, James was scared of everything I thought he would love. Alice loved everything I thought she would be scared of. Robert was somewhere in the middle, but easy-going about it. Matthew, well, was too little to enjoy much of anything at Disney. The boys fell in love with the Andersen's dog, Mara. James was especially fond of her. She's mellowed a lot since her puppy days.

I thought the rides were fun, the time with family was fun, and I'm glad we spent time visiting the Andersen and Jarvi families afterwards...just good quality time doing normal stuff with people I love.

*sigh*

I spent 5 hours in the garden(s) today and I'm still behind. Lots to do before I can even pull weeds! Remind me never to take a week off in July when I have 900sqft of garden in the works. Holy cow!

I screened for insect pests, pruned the tomatoes, reorganized the cuke/zuch tent, and harvested a few things: Brussels Sprouts, green beans, globe onions, zucchini, tomatoes, green peppers, collard greens and sweet corn today. I'm feeling good about that. Ran out of time, though, so I had to leave new potatoes and Swiss chard in the field to harvest tomorrow. Each crop has its own pest issues, but I've learned a lot and remain hopeful that I can improve things this season or the next.

Collard Greens on the left, Brussels Sprouts on the right. Teeny tiny watermelon plant between them. I don't think brassicas and curcurbits get along.

I've been really pleased with the collard greens this year. This was my third 'harvest' of them (cut and come again). I have a couple recipes I really enjoy eating and they require 2 lbs of greens that cook down a lot, so I get my fill and then I get a break.

We are pet-sitting some rabbits. When I say "we" I mean Robert and James under strict supervision. The boys are actually pretty good with feeding and watering the bunnies in a timely manner. Tomorrow is the first time "we" get to clean their cage, though...

The blue container is their "poo corner"...see the pellet pile? That, ladies and gentlemen, is only 24 hours of rabbit waste. Awesome.