windthread

Jenny had brought two Sweet Potatoes that had been languishing in her pantry.    Well,  not really,  they were totally Willing,  to be food,  as is,  OR  to go forward into their Next….

anyway,   she set them just inside the gate at B Garden when she came on the weekend.    Just there.   Them.  naked.   lying there.

I have given each of them a tomatoe cage….from the tomatoes that died of the Mystery,  because she read about some guy who just grows potatoes by adding layers of straw…no soil….?    The  cage will hold the straw in place,  maybe.

but sweet potatoes are so easy to "talk" to…so uhhhh,   friendly.   All my life,  since a kid,   i've seen pics of Sweet Potatoes in a glass of water or something,   vining away happily on someone's window sill.   This one i sprinkled a little earth on.   just a little becase it seemed right until i can bring down some dried out  scrap feed that will serve as straw.  I said Metta  for them.

and,   Beth,   for you too.   and then…for me.   and then,   for Us.  and then….for the world.   I think this was inspired by Them.

looking out the Morning Window….by the car,    Black.   the swing.    together.   Double click.   He stood there.   Just like that.  For i don't know how long….like….10 min?    until i couldn't watch any longer and i called out his name,  thinking maybe he was stuck?  His head popped out and he went along on up the hill  to get some minerals.

coming up from B Garden late.  It's 8:27 pm.  90 degrees.   Something isn't right with camera,   the sky is flaming red with Sun Set.   Lo tonight   80.

Again today

Jenny and Alyssia ,  as yesterday,   come at dawn to fit in a few hours of Doing.   Yesterday,  the gate  for the new rim fence.  Today,   repair of the squashed fence that seperates Sunny Ray's back forest from the rest.  Creates a buffer  between us and neighbor Dave's  outbuildings.  Us and neighbor Dave,  really.    A large branch had fallen.  Chain saw.  Fencing  pulled,  stretched and re attached.   One extra Tpost pounded in.   They are strong women.   in body and determination.  commitment.  They work well together.   I learn to accept the fact that i no longer can  "hold my own".    it's not easy.

they were gone by 11 and i tried out some ideas about how to move through these days.   There will be more ahead.   Anything having to do with the stove should be accomplished by noon.   i  filled all Goat water and set the hose to trickle into the Spa pool.  Carried up notebooks, water bottle, clean wash cloth.  Made the bed.   Washed dishes.   Other things.  Anything that needs/wants to get done .    Spa pool trickle idea didn't work.   it got hot,  pool water.   ok.  What does work is getting the dress wet,  wring it out.  Wear.   a personal  "swamp cooler",  evaporative cooler.
Body is in survival mode.   Brain suspends all but necessary functioning.    Thinking,    thinking even,  is hard.

are waiting for me.

first thing this morning,  Puppy's  feelin the heat.  Shortly after this she disappeared for the rest of the day.

along Carefree Way.    2  clusters.    Not bushes,   not really  "plants"….?    probably around 7 ft tall.    The new stalks are geometrically square.    perfectly square.    Older are woody and round.   ???    What is it i want to   KNOW  about them ?   Not their  formal name,   but i think their common name.   How the First Peoples knew them,   how they were part of their lives?

it takes Time.    Looking at a plant….touching it,  seeing IT and its place in its surroundings.   Remembering.    Because i was on my way into town,   i didn't have that time.   didn't     take    time.   That doesn't work.

and the

Madia

the blooming was short lived.   but the HEAT   is  causing things to happen with them.   Their Plant selves…are in response and the response is 

pungence

i touched,  swept my fingers on the leaves and the intensity of that pungence was startling….Air filled with their scent….more than scent,  more than aroma,    and i looked up the word,  pungence…and it's not quite right,  but it is.   Tar Weed.   how the leaves exude a substance,  sticky.  sticky and  FRAGRANT

Love all this

a little Crazy tonight

showing you an Eggplant.   Going to and fro from YouTube….Leonard Cohen  Bird on a Wire    Lewis Capaldi   Before You Go

the old me,  the young me   the me with a Heart    the female homosapien in 2023  

we posted the latest for the Gathering at the Well.   Me and my granddaughter who will  come to 35 years this month while kids ran the hose in the dark,  making a river in the dirt/mud that they turned into all manner of things and then when they were leaving,  in the Dark,   the Goats wouldn't move and Alyssia had to get out of her vehicle and shush them away in order to go home

spindly,  but……

then…suddenly.   Everything green.  no leaves eaten,   no spots,  no nothing.   except

wilting.   2 days of just wilting.   as if it wasn't being watered…??????     and then,  downhill from there.  I have never seen this happen before.   This is the second plant.    same thing.   ????????????

there were many Manzanita here at one Time.   Long before we came.   Something happened,  an insect,  a "virus",  something and many died. Many,  before we came.    They lean,  arch over in their death.   

today  was the first of the Fire Alerts from the so great app   Watch Duty.   Before it,   i would hear a siren coming Up and if there was a second,  i would begin to listen like an animal….like an animal….that i am….ears pricked,  senses alert,  adrenalin. ..    For more,  changes in their tone,  their  pace and anxiety would rise.   Last year,  with this app it was possible to click on…see immediately the position of the fire,  it's size,  it's fuel,   and be updated every 10 minutes.  It made a huge difference.   Could be trusted.   Relied on.   

and so,  today,  i was on phone with Alyssia…we both heard the sirens…her even through the phone….and then there was a plane.  There are sirens…Hill is just off a maor highway…often sirens for EMS service or vehicle mishaps.  She hung up to call Jenny at work.   our  "drill".    Two planes then,  circling above.  Close.  Watch Duty tells us it's position,  that it is a vegetation fire,  planes have been deployed,  helicopters are on standby.  There is a photograph of the plume of smoke rising.  Moments pass.   I walked up to the top most point here where i could see off far into that distance,  the two planes circling circling circling overhead,  Low, i can see the designs on their bellys…Cal Fire planes.   This is our second year with the Cal Fire contract,  Butte County.   We will NOT repeat Paradise.   So i stand there…watching the sky, the planes,  listening for the helicopters when i will go,  begin the "protocol".

the planes circle and  after a time don't come back,  the update tells that it was a cooking fire,  can be handled by equipment on ground.   I sit on a large Rock and look around…this Manzanita in it's final times…the beautyful mars violet bark pealing,  some of it still alive and leafed out.   Reprieve.  Fire Season has begun.  

really quick,   on  a piece of  torn envelope….  Her legs…are not right….do not honor Her.   Need to do again,  mindfully