If Only...

Miniature jonquils

If only it were warm enough to plant the garden…

If it were, some of this free time would be welcome. As it is, I – and most self-employed people – are spending more time on computers and phones, trying to find a way to get some of that grant money the Feds have been promising, and getting nowhere. Ditto with state unemployment. It’s frustrating and exhausting and slightly terrifying – maybe not as terrifying as it would be if it were just personal, there are lots of us in the same sinking boat and misery loves company, but there are so many of us in that boat that it’s hard to believe – and is proving true that it can’t be believed – that we’re ever going to see any disaster relief. First of all, the systems aren’t set up for self-employed people, and secondly, the Feds can’t add, so they’re surprised at how many people are in desperate straits and haven’t provided what’s needed.

So here’s what I’ve observed, between snowstorms and wicked windstorms and rain: 

Scilla

The garlic is up, and so are the Egyptian Onions. Scilla and jonquils are up, crocuses have come and gone. Rhubarb nubs are slowly emerging; some of the perennials I planted last fall are showing signs of arising but the markers I used (wooden chopsticks with names written on the flat parts in permanent marker – I thought it was a cheap, clever idea) are completely illegible after a winter buried in snow, so who knows what’s coming? I see signs of fritillaria, and poppies, and drumstick allium. Two weeks ago I planted onion sets – a variety that can be overwintered, so cold ground isn’t problematic – and as an experiment, pea seed and fava beans, both of which prefer cool ground for germination. No signs of them yet. 

Poppy

At the Co-op, pretty much everyone wears a mask, but I saw men who appear to be over 45 wearing their masks below their noses. I’m seeing a lot of pretty cloth masks, and I’m wondering if so many people are capable of sewing their own masks – and where did they get the material – or are they buying them somewhere? In other stores, this week mask-wearing was about 50%. 

A week or so ago, a smallish – so I’m assuming young – raccoon showed up during the late part of the afternoon on our back wart. The Husband whisked the Catman indoors, then we went back out to see what we could see. The ‘coon traveled along the path close to the house to just below the kitchen wart and was gobbling dropped sunflower seed. I was just a few feet above him – he hissed at me, and watched me for a moment, then went back to gobbling. I could see he’d apparently been in a fight – one eye appeared to be gone, and there was a bare patch on one hind leg that seemed to have a wound. After watching him for awhile, I decided it was unlikely he was rabid, but clearly injured, so I started pushing sunflower seed down off the wart rail towards him. He backed up with the first handful and stared at me for a minute, then quickly caught on to what I was doing, so after he finished a handful, he looked up at me and waited for a new handful.

Injured visitor

After eating for probably 10 minutes, he moved across the driveway, had a poop, then stood up on his hind feet to drink water out of a pail that was next to the corner of the garage, then sat down to lick lick lick his wounded leg. After awhile he curled up, keeping his eyes on the wart and me; I got the phone and called the local police, to see if they’d contact the fishcops for me. Turns out the fishcops don’t work on weekends. The Husband went to the neighbor’s house to warn them and suggest they haul their cat inside, and I noticed the critter had disappeared. I carefully approached the side of the garage, and found he’d moved to shelter under a piece of metal that was leaning against the garage wall. Next morning, he was gone. Close Encounters.

That's all sunflower seed shells he's in

And that was a few days after I almost picked up a pure-white skunk that was gobbling the same seed spill in almost the same spot. I’d gone out on the wart around midnight to bring in the cats’ deck chairs, and saw what, in the dark, looked like the white topknot of a shih-tzu just by the wart stairs. My brain raced to a conclusion: a neighbor must have gotten a shih-tzu dog and it must have wandered off when let out to pee before bed! I’d better grab it!

Chives are well up!

I was half-way down the stairs when the critter ambled out of the shadows  and passed me, two feet away, completely unfazed by my proximity. Fortunately. I hustled back up the stairs and inside pretty darn quick.

Sunday night when it was full dusk but the sky was still a little light, we got a phone call from the Witch who lives up the hill. She and her dog were having their evening walk, and she’d just left me part of a Polish Easter poppyseed bread near the kitchen door, and wanted to let me know so it didn’t get stepped on. I put shoes on and hustled outside, and met her miniature Australian Sheepdog (one blue eye, one brown eye) for the first time. We walked around the garden so doglet could get the good smells, and talked raspberry canes, and garlic, and onions, and when to cut back fruit trees, and then stood stock-still listening to the woodcock who was buzzing his love song in the front part of my field-like front forty. We were able to watch him fly several times before the sky got too dark and I got too cold and headed in. Socializing in the depths of social distancing.

Peach tree stump bling

 

Carl the postman, who has his glass window pulled half-way down to protect himself from our emanations, tells me that the post office is handling a volume of packages that is as big, if not bigger, than they handle at Christmas time, without the extra Christmas help. I’m not sure what most of the packages hold, but I’ve been adding to the volume, as I’ve been sending out bottles of herbs to patients to treat allergies, colds that are dragging on, sleep problems, digestion issues, arthritis, and all the other not-novel stuff that I treat regularly when I’m seeing patients in person and can hand them their formulas. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if people are sending their friends and families special gifts for keeping busy while isolated: spring fruitcakes, long letters, jigsaw puzzles, instructions on how to visit museums around the world on-line, and books to fill in the closed-library void?

Heart-leaf Brunneria --- I think

I’d finished feeding the birds when I ran out of seed nearly a week ago, but got snookered into buying one more small bag because THE BIRDS ARE HUNGRY! And there are goldfinches. So as of this morning, there’s birdseed on the wart rails again, and I swear, this is the last bag this season, so I hope it warms up enough soon that they can find food elsewhere. The hummingbird trackers have spotted the northern migration as far as New Jersey – it won’t be long before we’ll be hanging out hummingbird feeders for the new arrivals. 

Pathway edge bling

There’s stuff I can do in the garden, if it stops raining for a few days – dig out the marjoram, move the sorrel, cut back stuff that didn’t get cut back last fall, find a different way to mark where the perennials are, weed…and try to figure out in advance where the best place to plant stuff this year will be. But first, I have to get back onto the state unemployment benefits site and try once again.

Pear tree leaf buds

Thank you again to those angels who, realizing how difficult this time is going to be for me financially, have sent me checks for nothing except support. I can’t tell you how much your kindness has meant, how much your support eases the way, and how much your words have touched my heart. 

I’ve extended my hold on regular appointments until the week of May 18, and may need to extend it longer depending on the states’ stay at home orders. However, I am seeing patients who are in pain or for some other reason need to be treated during the orders – call me or email me (taichideb@tds.net) and we’ll find you a time on a day when we won’t overlap with other patients using the waiting room. A call or email is the best way to reach me if you need herbs through the mail, also.

In the meantime, stay safe, stay sane, wash your hands a lot, don’t touch your faces, but do go outside, sing out loud to open the lungs, and shout greetings to your neighbors. And remember, no one can tell whether you’re smiling when you’re wearing a mask, so let your eyes sparkle and wave your gloved hands happily!

Deb Marshall photos.

“All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well.” Julian of Norwich, 14^th century. No, not Norwich VT!

Happy plant!