I really think that there is something fabulous about watching things grow up from the ground, or in this case, out of a planted pot. During the winter, I always buy plants that I can watch get bigger, materialize, and finally become something quite beautiful. When I was first married and we had bought our first little house, the first thing I wanted to do was have a garden. My husband who grew up on a farm, and knew everything about growing things in the ground was not quite so excited, but encouraged me with interest to plant those seeds in the spring. You cannot believe how astonished I was, and elated when I saw those first little green shoots coming up. I ran into the house to tell Mike with such enthusiasm that my husband thought that maybe I had just won the lottery. You see, I grew up in the city, and never once in all of my growing up years did I ever plant anything, and then watch it grow. Like so many other city children of my generation, I had no idea where our food came from; it just ended up on our table for each meal, and I never questioned it or thought about it. Today, I am close to the farm where my husband grew up, and we now have a farm of our own. It is a real joy for me to watch things grow out here in the country; to see the rows and rows of corn and soybeans come up after planting in the spring, but just as important to me is my own little garden at my kitchen window that I watch grow over time, and bring such joy and delight to me on winter days.
This is what is growing from the simple pot above! Maybe I do have a green thump, after all!
On Thursday of this past week, I attended to one of my New Year's Resolutions, to feed the birds this winter, by having a Brunch and then having my girlfriends make pine-cone bird feeders. Like Tom Sawyer, I thought that I would get some of my friends to help me "paint the fence!" And, from the pictures, as you can see, we all had so much fun getting our hands full of lard and peanut butter, rubbing this mix into pine-cones and then rolling them in bird seed. From an article I read, the single biggest danger to birds in the winter is not enough food to eat, so now I feel that we have done a little bit to help those two winged creatures of flight that bring me so much joy. And, yesterday, I trudged outside in my new sturdy boots to put my bird feeders in the trees,selecting trees and branches where I can watch them from my windows. A winter delight! Then,after tending to the birds, I took my once a year, lone jaunt into the countryside to enjoy the new fallen snow alight in meadows, across fields, over barns, in pastures with horses and cattle, sheep and swine, and on fences, trees and lakes. I usually load up my car CD player with my favorite tapes, and head out east on one-lane country roads which are still icy and snow-covered, and roll along the flat lands of the prairie and the occasional hill and dale to my heart's content. Along the way, I stop and take pictures as you can see below. One of my favorite songs is Susan Boyle's, "Just a Perfect Day," and I must have played it loud and long for it was indeed, just a perfect day.
