It was a very busy morning for the baker today! Because of the long weekend, he was up early at 4am to make the (generally Monday) morning bagels for the ReVision Energy folks and then instead of sneaking back into bed for a couple more hours of sleep, he had to jump on the regular Tuesday baking and delivering schedule – whew! I bet he’s going to bed early tonite! But the breads are beautiful (and delicious – I cannot resist a freshly baked bagel or slice of yummy bread with butter!) and he is off in the world with the peach delivering his goods.
There is a fat Robin in the garden today, but he’s not eating my Purple or Black Barley or Sunflower or Glass Gem Corn seeds. I’m a bit of a bird-nerd (I would not go so far to say that I am serious about it, but I do get a little giddy when there is some bird drama) and last Tuesday at the Augusta farmer’s market (which is on the Kennebec River, in a meandering little park where D and her friend like to rollerskate on the paths) we got to see a bevy of feathered friends: 4 Great Blue Herons hanging out together, a pair of Common Mergansers, Baltimore Orioles, Eastern Peewees, juvenile Osprey practicing their fishing techniques, and another pair of Bald Eagles. There was some issue with the Peewee, the Orioles, and a noisy Crow but eventually they all chased the latter away. Back home we frequently hear our resident Pileated Woodpecker, Catbirds in the front bush along with a pair of Cardinals, and the Phoebe in their sweet nest on the back of the garage. Early in the Spring (late Winter) I saw a couple of Bluebirds but they don’t stick around for us. Though last week, outside the studio window I got to see an Indigo Bunting in my Witch Hazel! I won’t regale you with my Life List or anything but seeing a Hoopoe in the Agora in Athens, Greece was certainly a highlight!
And speaking of marvelous highlights – a wonderful dear human gave me a sprig of a mint plant last year that he got from his other lovely friend, the artist David Driskell, who received it from another friend that found it on the ground where he was as a soldier when he found out the war (WWII) was over and brought it back with him (there are details there that are certainly lacking, as the story was told to me and another like-minded colleague who also received some mint: we try and reconstruct the story to each other but we know we fail; it is more like the telephone game, a chain letter through time…). I got to see Dr. Driskell speak a couple of times, in intimate small group settings – his stories are so good. Stories about visiting Zora Neale Hurston for lemonade with Langston Hughes, stories about his realization of where and how to function as an African American male artist and how he could help others with his perspective, stories about his craft and subject matter…just a lovely human being.
Well, suffice to say, the mint lingered for a bit before I found it a home and when I planted it, it looked like a sad little stick but seemed to survive. But alas, this Spring, it just looked like a dead stick and I was deflated. No Driskell love letter mint for me, but I kept checking on it. I composted around it, watered my dead stick, weeded the bed, etc. Just for fun I thought I would check on it the other day, just to lament the stick again, and 3 inches away from the offending dry twig was a foot high new mint shoot!! The Driskell Mint lives, in Maine, where so much of his heart lived too. I am so grateful to have this gift (Thank you lovely George and Amy! It grows for you, too!).
So, as the sea of Daisies waft in the humid breeze, and the Dragonflies appear to swoop and scarf the mosquitos (those jerks don’t get capitalized), and the Honeysuckle calls to me to make Country Wine, I get to hear and see the birds enjoy this verdant Spring, and watch the tiny marvelous plants with all their stories (and my stories, and stories of stories) grow. Let your stories grow!
Rock Bottom Homestead 