Saturday, July 27, 2013

The joy file

Found this list of things that make me happy in my evernote collection today:

Dancing to star anna and friends
Mountain biking!!!
Being home and running into ppl in prescott
Friend melody
Friend andrea
Spanish club
My ten min workouts
elephants
smart parrots
bengali
Dancing
Finishing and shipping writing
Watching indie movies
Dancing to indie bands
Gardening
Seagulls
Watching kids in the sea center fountain
innkeeper
green chile
tequila
dogs
cats
deep red flowers
sunflowers

Thursday, July 25, 2013

The garden: Learning to curate

Last year, I planted seeds hither and thither in the patch of dirt at the front of my apartment complex. Plants came up, tall and short, motley and not. They bolted and went bust. Like a cat lady, but with plants, I didn't have the heart to cull any of them and as the season wore on, the garden went from ugly to hideous. In the fall, as the clouds rolled in and the Pacific Northwest darkness descended, I promised myself that I would curate next year's garden better. And I have. This year, I planted from tall to small, and in a mixture of colors. I allowed the plants to have their season and then I took them out to make more room for those that had grown up robust in their stead. This year, I get all manner of compliments on the garden, strangers coming up and telling me my garden looks good. My landlady says her friends comment to her about it. It worked; I curated and created something worth having.