The Long View
Its been quite a strange couple of weeks in many ways, which are hard to find words for. One thing was I thought I had published last week but then found the piece in limbo not quite sent off. Interesting as it had been so full on and I was exhausted from long long days and didn’t feel I had much to say of interest, so in some respects had been relieved it hadn’t published after all! I had determind that rather than bang out a piece regardless every week to stay consistent as everyone advises one should do, that I would still aim to be consistent but not push if it just wasn’t coming together. So in many ways it was as it was meant to be.
What I find is that all sorts of things may start writing themselves within but when I actually sit down to put pen to paper or finger to keyboard the moment has passed and what seemed relevant and important then, really doesn’t anymore. It feels like the present is becoming ever more…… ‘present’ ! What is not relevant just falls away.
What a joy the sunshine has been though - so needed, and many hearts seem happier. Knowing that the soil is now so dry I reluctantly welcome the rain that is to come, I just wish it was not quite so all or nothing. While the world becomes ever more fraught with every malaise pushing itself to the surface it can seem like much is terrible and while in the thick of devastation, political turmoil and wrong doing it will certainly feel so, don’t we all wish that no being should suffer, but what is rotten is coming up and out. It is how we heal, it is how anything heals, its how this world is healing, from the inside out and we have to see it and allow it all to leave while making the best better choices that we can and putting in place new healthy foundations for something better.
In my work, whether its the health side or the gardening side I meet war mentality frequently. It seems so ingrained people don’t notice. It seems to go hand in hand with wanting to control and have immediate results. I have to say I tend to take the long view and the broad view with life and health. It just seems to be the way I roll and I trust nature. I prefer to go step by step and get to the root of things, whether redressing the balance in a flower bed or in the body. I would rather go through a time of strife or hard graft but really get to a point where balance is returned with as little damage as possible, rather than suppress or cover up just so it seems better while the problem continues. It is not always possible immediately, but then one has to find the things to feel grateful for. Currently I feel very blessed to have a roof over my head despite rotten beams and a very wonderful view from my garden which I attempted to put to paper in a few short minutes while the sun was going down bathing the valley in its golden glow. Its was an invitation to to find a moment of stillness and gratitude.
I have been making a start on new veg beds, sowing veg, and waiting for the tomato seeds to sprout which they just did a couple of days ago. Salads are growing fast now and dahlia seeds are also happily sporting two green leaves.
The new garden wild offering has been Wood Avens / Geum urbanum / Herb bennet which is totally edible but its the roots which hold the best secret I think. They are the English substitute for cloves. Most people have it their gardens somewhere. I dug up a few clumps last week and washed and dried the roots in the sun. They keep for a long time in a jar like this and are a much less woody than cloves when used in cooked apple or things like that, though not as strong. They have the same herbal properties as cloves the most well known being as an analgesic.
Wishing you all a peaceful week.