Odd Women

i'm re-reading a biography of Edna St. Vincent Millay, the 99 pound elf of a girl-poet who took America by storm early in the 20th century. i get sucked into these bios of the independent women, especially the writers, who had tortured souls, hung around with a bunch of men who adored them, slept with women, drank and smoked and usually died young. at least they made their own decisions...

- a new bio of Flannery O'Connor looks like it will hold my attention
- Patience Gray has a book called "Honey From a Weed". It's out of print but i keep 2 copies and i return to it frequently to be soothed by her take on fasting and feasting in Tuscany, the Cyclades, Catalonia and Apulia with her Sculptor.
-"Savage Beauty" is the Millay bio

my friend who live in The House With the Pink Pillars read stories to me for my birthday: childrens' books and e.e. cummings...that was fun...

A Bit of Truth

"One realizes that even in harmonious families there is this double life: the group life, which is the one we can observe in our neighbour's household, and, underneath, another- secret and passionate and intense- which is the real life....One realizes that human relationships are the tragic necessity of human life; that they can never be wholly satisfactory, that every ego is half the time greedily seeking them, and half the time pulling away from them. In those simple relationships of loving husband and wife, affectionate sisters...there are innumerable shades of sweetness and anquish which make up the pattern of our lives." Willa Cather

Scenes From A Southern Garden

i was only going out to the front garden to put down a couple pink dahlia bulbs i had and ended up poking around for an hour in my pajamas. the ides of March are blowing and the air is warm so having a little lie down smack in the middle of the arugula patch wouldn't have seemed odd to me at all. the bees buzzing around the flower spikes numbered many but i'm sure they would have tried extracting some of my own honey had i done just that!

the most amazing progression of the garden reveals itself as i walk the entire frontage of the roadside and see that the seed heads that burst over the last couple years have taken up residence all along the road. parsley, cilantro, carrots, poppies, larkspur, coreopsis, old snaps all have found a crevice to live through another season. the cilantro was the most welcome surprise because the winters of late haven't supported the herb but with all the seeding going on i ended up with several large bunches of this stinky plant.

in the next couple weeks the larkspur and poppies will be showing color and the little golden acre sedum will reach to the sky with it's yellow star shaped flowers. the broccoli and cauliflower are bug free and when i harvested some lettuce and arugula the other night i brought in at least 6 lady bugs.

hurrah for spring...

Ode to Tini and the Big Guy

it's my birthday and i'll bitch if i want to! but i have nothing to bitch about - i do have a word or two to say about a couple of friends who have never wavered in their support for me and the Boy. these masters of the universe have known the urchin as long as i have and have never failed to breathe through all the hardships that have been bestowed on us . in times of trouble mother mary always shows them the way while i would spin out of control...we are always received at the River with love and excitement and this attitude has continued to this day. i gratefully send heaps of love to the little lady of the house and the Big Guy who i would never want to be without.