On gardening, reading, and dreaming

Yesterday was a spectacular spring day. After getting dumped on with a late snow in mid-April, and then days and days of cold wet rain, the sun and 70-degree weather was a welcome respite. 

Gardening

We headed into the garden early, just after breakfast, with carrot, radish, and lettuce seeds in hand. All cool weather crops, we usually have luck planting them early. If all goes well, we’ll be eating from our garden in mid to late May. The rest of our plantings will have to wait until Mother’s Day weekend or later, when the chance of frost is long past. 

Cooking

As we poked around the garden, we were able to harvest some kale and parsley which somehow survived the winter. To celebrate, I made a big bowl of tabbouleh which will take care of a few lunches this week and made creamed kale to go with the shrimp and grits my husband made for dinner last night. I don’t know why I feel so much happier when I’m eating food directly from my garden, but I do. I know it’s all in my head, but I feel the vitamins and minerals infusing my body, bringing me health and energy directly from the place I call home.

After doing some weeding and raking, I took a little walk around the garden, snapping some photos and enjoying the yard in this emergent stage of life. I feel an infinity to this time as I transition into the idea of retirement. 

Reading

After gardening, I set up a little nest on the deck and read for a few hours. I’m reading a fantastic book by Ruth Ozeki, The Book of Form and Emptiness. I read her book, A Tale for a Time Being a few years ago and absolutely loved it and this new book is just as good. Her writing reminds me of Haruki Murakami, another favorite author. (Are you familiar with either author? If you like magical realism, then these are books for you!)

It's hard to describe The Book of Form and Emptiness but let’s just say that the book itself is a character, there’s a boy who hears insentient objects speak to him (like the window he hears crying because a bird flew into it and the window was upset for inadvertently hurting it), and a zen nun who wrote a book about decluttering (a la Marie Kondo). It’s a wild and wonderful read.

Dreaming

While reading Ozeki, I thought about how much I admire her lifestyle. (Or at least what she shares on Wikipedia and her website.) She is a successful author, teaches creative writing at Smith College, has a home on Cortes Island (I love the Salish Sea!), is a Zen priest, and is married to an environmental artist. She makes me feel lazy yet inspired.

She and Ann Patchett are both literary women of a certain age that I look up to and aim to emulate some elements of their lives in my own. Ann Patchett, another favorite author of mine, is a prolific writer and runs an independent bookstore in Nashville.

So based on this admiration, it looks like my perfect retirement would be to live on an island in the Salish Sea, write books, practice Zen Buddhism, and run a small bookstore. Bits and pieces of any of those dreams are completely possible. If I’m honest and brave, all are possible.

How are you doing? What’s new? What are you reading? Who do you look up to?