Blue. Azul. I'm feeling it.

Blue is the color of my eyes when they sparkle, the color of the sky and the water I love so much, the color of denim that I reach for daily in my wardrobe. My favorite. But as a feeling, not so much, and I’m feeling it today. I reach for the blue crayola and color the whale and the bird and the umbrella in my Spanish workbook. I realize there is alot going on in this mindless activity of coloring. Many skills are exercised, like recognition, sorting, following directions, developing fine motor skills, using imagination, to name the first that come to mind. I suppose the same could be said for the blues…there is most likely alot going on.

First of all, it’s raining. That raw, cold, soaking rain that seeps in deep, that breaks through the layer that was frozen not so many days ago. The awakening drink to the thirsty underground. Lifegiving. Somehow, the grayness, takes the sparkle and life away from me, like a knock on the door from an unwelcome visitor, that if I invite inside will stay too long, will seep into the depths of my humanity, which causes me to chase it away like my grandmother did, running after the taxcollector down the driveway with her frying pan in hand! So, chase I will. It takes effort. This is not a time to be nice.

Second of all, we are bound within our borders. Perhaps some, me included, have a little cabin fever. We have time on our hands, time spent with…the headlines, the reports of unemployment, sickness and death, an apex down the road, low stock of inventory, missing loved ones, despair…I guess that’s why they call it the blues. (Thank you Sir Elton)

For me, I’m going to fight it, do a little chasing of my own. Take some lessons from my coloring book and make some preparations for tomorrow…because I believe that the sun will come out then (thank you Annie).

RECIPE FOR TODAY:

Recognize what is emerging in your gardens. Assess what is coming back, what needs to be divided or moved, what spaces need to be filled for spring color. Take notes in a journal to prepare for next spring. If you are like me, you may also forget. Sketch and record.

Sort through your toolshed. Take stock of garden gloves, tools, potting soil; do your wheelbarrows need air in the tires? Make sure everything is clean, sharp and ready to use. Order some new gloves.

Follow directions on seed packets. Most seeds need to be started in a protected spot at this stage. Some can go directly in the garden now. I planted my peas on St Patrick’s Day. There is still time, but do it now.

Use your fine motor skills to drop seeds into the cells one by one.

Use your imagination to create a new garden - flower, herb, veggie or a combo; plant a beautiful window box to welcome spring. Add something blue to your beds - try amsonia, it’s a beauty! Blue pottery and a blue gazing ball are eyecatchers!

Contact me, I can help with your local projects.

Chase away the blues man…tell him to leave the package on the doorstep and drive away. Open the package when the clouds have lifted, the contents will look better then.

Adrift.

I feel relatively uninspired. The nations are restricting us people to our homebases to thwart the advances of Covid19, a global pandemic. During this isolation, the creativity of most is surfacing, embracing a new ration of time and space, an opportunity to paint, draw, laugh, dance, learn, write. It is a wonderful consequence. But me, I feel relatively uninspired, like a leaf being carried downstream atop a babbling brook, with twists and turns and the occasional obstruction of a fallen branch or outcropped rock to redirect or halt its course. It just “is”, adrift on something with power and force and direction, something other than itself. Yea, so that’s me, starting a blog, aimless and dependent on the flow of Him who carries me.

It’s not that I don’t have stories to tell…believe me, I do. Perhaps my pencil will reveal them in time. During days of uncertainty, the globe is literally being held captive by a novel coronavirus that has no cure and a contagious traffic pattern. In an effort to slow the commute to the ICU, many governments, the United States included, have restricted citizens to activity outside the home that is essential only. “Essential” may prove to be a big word down the road as mental health and financial well-being may enter the essential category to those healthy in body, but weakened in other aspects of being. I’m no expert, a mere leaf, remember; but I am curious how diverse the implications will be.

I became leaf-like, a floater, when my world changed dramatically not too long ago…though it feels like ancient history. Once self-directed and driven, now living quite simply with little anxiety and care, I don’t know how the transformation happened; perhaps clarity will come as I write more of the story. Since I am journaling as Suzy Sparkleberry, stepping back into her story, she begins here with a shovel, dirt overturned, and the sighting of her/my first earthworms of the season…perhaps making love and disturbed by my blade. My joy in seeing them wriggle brought me hope for a new season. Perhaps I disturbed their escape from an intruding outside world. Perspective, ah, perspective. So there I was pruning roses and giving their roots some homemade compost to break their fast. The forsythia are swelling, so the roses are expecting some attention. While I was sprinkling their driplines with an appetizer, the earthworms squirmed and tangled, and went back under the covers.

Other return visitors thus far have been the crocus, daffodils - the early ones, and hyacinth just getting started. I’ve raked out the tangled pachysandra and given a spring haircut to the perennials. The Easter grass is growing in baskets awaiting Resurrection Sunday when we may be forbidden to hunt. But we’ll have to see.

This week is a gray one, early spring rains. When the sun comes out, we will all shout hallelujah to welcome the joyous Spring landscape. Enjoy your new ration of time and space. I hope you are able to expend some of your newfound energy in the outdoors.

RECIPE for the week:

Rake beds on a dry day

Cut back perennials that have wintered in the garden

Prune roses and berries, compost the driplines

Cut stems of flowers getting ready to pop…enjoy in a vase indoors.

Take a good look, pause awhile