Last night I woke up around 3am, feeling a heavy weight on my leg. It took me a few moments to realize that weight was Kelly--our 60lb golden retriever--trying to climb into our double bed. She was panting and shaking, severely alarmed by the lightning storm raging outside. It seems Kelly has grown increasingly nervous about storms in the four years or so she's lived with us. We let her come into bed and she hunkered down in between us, alternately panting, shaking, and whimpering for the next few hours while the storms passed through. We were all pretty tired this morning.
Today has turned out to be hazy, warm and breezy. The feeling in the air suggests that some more rain will probably be moving through at some point.
All this rain is good for the garden, I think, though I'm a little nervous that the seeds we put in this past weekend might actually get drowned as the soil continues to be compacted by the heavy storms. Overall the garden is in good shape. We used nearly all of our available bed space this year--hedging our bets with lots of tomato and pepper seedlings, along with peas, short season corn, parsnips, leeks, brussels sprouts, summer and winter squash, melons, basil and beans. Hopefully we'll be making trips back to WV in August and September to harvest the literal fruits (and vegetables) of our labors.
It's good to be home. The backyard has new wonders everyday, from buttercups and cherry blossoms to hummingbirds and snapping turtles. Drew was off from work last week and we enjoyed getting some projects done, taking lots of walks and hikes, attending a seemingly endless succession of social events, and each other's company. It also gave us some time to process and plan, as Drew has recently taken a new job that will potentially impact our long term plans together, including probably necessitating an eventual move to an adjacent county. For the next year, though, it means he will be living with me in Harrisonburg, which is exciting. I'm still struggling some with the idea of leaving the schoolhouse and our community of friends here, but thankfully it's not too far away and we don't need to make any big decisions for a while yet.
For now, I'm trying to concentrate on enjoying the summer stretching out before me. I took the huge luxury of not getting a real job for the next two months, so other than a once a week yoga class and a weeklong stint as a camp cook in July, I'm blissfully uncommitted. I'm hoping to get some house projects done, take lots of walks with Kelly, volunteer some, tend the garden and yard, complete the work for my summer peacebuilding institute course, and spend time visiting family and friends. Hoping I'll also be able to slow down enough to get some feeling of peace and centeredness heading into next year and beyond. Some persistent tension and recent sickness is a cue that all is not quite well in the internal emotional/mental/spiritual sphere at the moment. Hopefully nothing that can't be fixed by tea, trees, and time.
I've also been using my free time for lots of less productive pursuits, including downloading lots of podcasts, following the election news obsessively, and looking up useless information on the internet. Last night, Drew and I took a break from watching political speeches to research the cartoon character Miffy. Miffy is a line-drawn, primary colored rabbit who has adventures with her dog and other little animal friends. The Miffy stories center around educational backyard adventures or projects that Miffy completes cooperatively with the help of her neighbors. They play non-competitive games where the object is for everyone to end up with the same amount at the end. This is indescribably appealing to me both as a conflict transformation student and as a fan of adorable anthropomorphic children's book characters. I'm glad I married someone who will tolerate me wandering around the house in the morning singing: "Miffy: a sweet little bunny..."
