A Fanciful Twist

Of Curious Change & Giddy Goodness

There's something going on out there, in that place called summertime.

The season is twisting and turning.

It is still hot, and will be until Halloween, and the summer has been ever so long and heavy, and oh so hot.  I gave myself to the garden this summer, as you well know.

It has not been easy.  I won't lie.

It has been a full time job.

But a job I would do gladly, again and again.

As this shift in the season approaches, I begin to gather baskets of goodies.

In my garden it is harvest time for lots of edibles.

I feel a deep respect for farmers, for growing food.  It is so easy to access food with grocery stores and such, that I had forgotten all that goes into growing what you eat.

And, can I just say...

Pumpkins really taste like pumpkins.

Cucumbers really taste like cucumbers.

Tomatoes really taste like tomatoes.

(not to steal from Willi Wonka there)

But seriously, the flavors of my oh so organic edibles, are intense.

If you buy organic, or grow your own, you know what I mean.

So scrumptious.

And so, now I collect.

Snip.

Hug.

Love.

(Btw, all the beans you see around, are from the mesquite trees.  I have raked up 5 wheelbarrows full already, and they still keep dropping off the trees.  We are used to it.)

You know how when you were a kid, and you were going to Disneyland (approaching the entrance to the parking lot), and you got so excited that you bounced on the seats of the car so hard that you would bonk your head on the car ceiling?  Whilst clapping, and make all sorts of happy bursting kid sounds?

At least, that is what I did.

Well, this morning, with orange globes a plenty, I felt like that.  Giddy giddy giddy goodness. 

And, then I was sad.  Sad because I realized that, if I got that excited about something in public (as an adult), I might be committed.

:)

So, the first true collection of the babies for this pumpkin harvest season are trickling in.  I have gifted some, and eaten some, and still have some, plus waiting for some...

I have inspected each one...

Lovingly and with care.

Thankfully too.

With butterflies in my stomach, for the autumn they remind me of, that is yet to come...

A few white ghosties are showing their faces...

In a sort of déjà vu from last year, I am in love once again.

There are still a handful of pumpkin patches in my garden.  More babies growing.  Why do pumpkins make me so happy?  I can't figure it out?

Growing by the gypsy wagon...

Crawling up the trees...

Surprises in the flower garden...

A gift below, for my neighbor who grew her own pumpkin vines from some of my seeds.  She got 5 babies of her own, but needed one more.  You see, she is making pumpkin ice-cream, and she said I would get a taste.  Hooray!

The pumpkin patch in the front garden is flowering now, with babes to come within the next few weeks...

I can't wait to see what surprises it has in store...

I am sort of feeling funny.

I have had a very very very very very long summer.

And yet, the rapid change in my garden, shows me that it really is August.

Then September.

Must soak it in, like, now.

Come dance in our jungle at twilight...

We'll be waiting for you....

 

Love, V

 

 

 

Thoughts right now...

Don't you love late summer thoughts?  They waft in, they waft out.  Intense at once, and then fading so quickly, convincing us they had never been.  A menagerie of feelings fluttering about.

 

Thoughts right now...

I feel a longing, but I don’t know for what?

I feel excitement, but I don’t know about what?

For a mere moment, I feel concerned, but I have nothing to feel concerned about.

It feels silent. 

What is to come?

 

It feels like there is a change on the horizon.  But I haven’t a clue what could change?

Everything changes from moment to moment I suppose… 

Ever changing time.

 

I see a few tiny grey strands in my hair for the first time, sneaking in, getting cozy, like they want to stay.  And I like them.

I am not afraid to grow old.

I find a peace in aging.  I am beginning to look less 25 in the mirror, and I don’t care.  After-all it was a decade ago.  For me, it's easier to let go, than to hold on.  But inside, inside I feel young as ever.

 

I find a calm in throwing my hands up in the air.

I have made pacts with myself, about trying not to lose myself, and I have made myself a map, as to how to get back if I do happen to lose myself a bit.  Do you do that?

 

I have a huge desire to please.  Only this time, for once in my life, it is to please myself.

 

My perceptions are changing.  Sometimes I wish the girl in me now, could have stood up for the teenage me.

Alas, the old adage comes to mind, if I only knew then what I know now.

Then again, the past is history, no point in even losing one inch of thought on what could have been.  It’s over, there is nothing we can do.  Nada.  Zip. Zilch.

So, we let go.

 

I have enjoyed my youth until bursting.

And will continue to do so.

I look upon my twenties with great fondness, even the angst ridden introspective times seem vastly beautiful from this vantage point.

I have so many friends that are much older than me, that I have learned so much from.  The greatest thing I have learned is that life is long, and we are not old, at the ages we think we are.  Whoever decided what age is young and what is old, was cuckoo in the head.  Life is long, and age is but a number.  You can be youthful, for as long as you want.  You do have a choice in the matter.  Only the added bonus is that, now you have wisdom too.  What a gift!  No one ever mentions that, do they?  So silly.

 

The world may seem scary and sinister sometimes, but there is so much goodness and beauty too.  I turn my face away to the yucky stuff, and work at living the best life I can live.  And I believe that somehow, if I hold on to a thread of hope, everything will work out.

 

I have all these thoughts in my head, and yet, nothing is going on in my life that should cause such thoughts.

Just the long hot summer sneaking in,  having a date with my brain...

I pick up feelings from people around me.  I have always been like that.  I can feel other people’s feelings at the drop of a hat. 

I have all these feelings dancing around me today. 

Are they yours?

Are they mine?

 

Are they feelings searching for a home?  Dancing through clouds?

 

Am I just having a reaction to shellfish?

:)

Nah.

So many thoughts.

Right now I think I need one bite of coconut cake.

And that…

That is a good thought.

I loved your sharing of tales in the last post.

It was so exciting for me, to get to hear your snippets.

Just loooved the sharing.

Thank you for that.

(Tori Amos, Thoughts.  Early B-sides)

I think we should do that more often.

 

Love, V

 

 
 

 

Gourdy Gourd, Home?

Hello there!  I escaped for a couple of days, and have returned to my little space on the planet...

I packed my bags full of trinkets and such, drove to the airport to pick up my brother (whom I adore), and we had a mini road trip to the family pad.  He surprised Mammie for her birthday.  It was wonderful.

I took a few garden treats with me to gift to my Mombie.  A box of my babies...

And, oodles of fresh flowers picked from my garden.  I also gave her a fairytale garden fountain and a necklace I made (she owns about 800 of my jewelry pieces by now).  Plus, some zinnias I started for her in a pot, and some potted pumpkin sprouts, that sprung up while I was there.  My dad was fascinated by them.  I hope they grow and gift her some punkin' babes.

We ate too much.

At least I did.

I am still full.

Mombie made her own fave coconut cake.  She insisted, but my brother and I stopped and got her a beautiful white chocolate and raspberry cake anyways.  For good measure.  Oh and, oodles of balloons that I had pre-ordered.

Her cake was unreal.  She only makes things from scratch, using fresh ingredients.  Like real coconuts, etc.

It was a blast, but I missed my three boys.

Especially the furry ones ;)

I was eager to see them when I finally turned onto the street, that takes me to the street our love shack lives on.

I missed the gourd tree too.

It makes me feel like, if I pretend just right enough, I can slip into a fairytale, of the real variety.  If only for a smidgen.

Below is the back side of the tree, also covered.

Gourds are born of white flowers.

Where most squash (pumpkins etc.) have yellow to orange flowers.

I spy a great huge gooseneck gourd!

And lots of birdhouse babies...

There are some huge ones hanging above head, but it got too dark to take their picture today.  I will take some in the daylight.

As soon as I arrived, I picked some edibles, and we even gobbled some tender sweet corn, which will be super ready in about a week.  It is yumm when it is young.  We cooked it, slathered on some butter, and shared it (sometimes we eat the corn raw when it is young).

My juicer was waiting for me to juice a large glass of one of my favorite treats.  Beet carrot juice.  I also love carrot alone.  And, lots of other juices.  I love juicing.  Do you?

Now I have to unpack all of my stuff.

Something I am not good at, at all.

I have to decompress.

And get back into the swing of my week.

How are you??

Tell me something delicious.  Won't you, please?

A good tale would so hit the spot.

Even an invented one would be grand ;)

How about it?

Love, V