Join me in a JUBILEE!

Welcome to what I am calling my Jubilee year. Nope, not in the Christian sense for several reasons but the biggest of them is 'cause I ain't one. You can research what that means in their context if you wish but it will probably be pretty obvious why mine is based in the different world view. 

Think royal. Queen if you can, though I understand if it is a stretch to put that word in the same same world as this openly peasant-leaning old woman. Typically they do them on the "ten's years" when the monarch's time on throne gets long... 50, 60, 70 years. But true to form, I do not even care to get that right. This year, my 75th, FEELS right. 

I suspect the timing is related to a life altering, possibly massively life extending experience I had at 25.

In 1948 when I was born, I was what was then known as a "blue baby." Not at all related to the so-called "indigo children" which were often talked about beginning in the '70s, these babies had serious heart defects and the "blue" referred to the cyanosis resulting from poor circulation or inadequate oxygenation of the blood. That I survived babyhood and was seen by a big-city cardiologist when I was 2 1/2 was due to my RN mom's determination and care. At that time, open heart surgery -- which I eventually had -- was in the beginning stages and the doc warned my mom to "manage me" without medical intervention until I was 25, by which time he expected the procedure to be perfected, if not routine. 

I thank my mom for not giving in to fear and making me an invalid. I dunno how much guidance she got along the way, she never talked about it, but the only restriction I remember from my young childhood was being told "don't run" (yeah, right LOL) and during school years was not being allowed to participate in PE. I bet that, at some level, hurt my dad who was a Jr high and HS coach and called "Coach" by almost all the students, even after he joined the administrative team. 

When I hit 25, my mom made an appointment with a nationally recognized heart surgeon in LA, as we were living in SoCal at that point. No, I was no longer on their insurance and no, there was no discussion about costs or how to pay. I guess they covered it all, which must have been a pretty big deal for a school administrator and an RN. When I first saw Doctor Burt Meyer, he listened, fluoroscoped me and then sat me down for the consultation, looking at my fingernails repeatedly, and asking "are you sure you never turn blue?" I told him not since the last time I went in Lake Michigan waters... but he just kept asking. 

You see, I had a ventricular-septal defect. A pretty bad one. The hole between the chambers in my heart which allowed some of the blood entering the heart to skip the whole "lungs" part of the typical body-heart-lungs-heart-body trip was the size of a quarter. Might have been worse, I guess, but having learned that I could do pretty much all of the physical things I wanted to do, if I did them at MY pace (and I spent a lot of time outdoors, exploring, walking, riding my bike, 50 mile hikes in the Kennedy era, climbing foothills in SoCal and bringing home dead creatures to turn into skeletons) I was good. My heart got big and strong. Doc said it was the size of an NFL linebackers (in my skinny, 5'2-on-a- good-day, frame.) No wonder I did not turn blue, eh?

I actually felt like I had MORE problems after the hole was patched. My body was getting all the O2 it was suppose to -- but was not use to it. Fortunately, life handed me a move to Grand Junction, CO soon after. Living at a bit more altitude gave my body time to adjust and when I returned to closer to sea level I had no more problems. 

I have been happily following my passion, my nose and doing what was necessary to keep body and soul together, a roof over my head and food in the belly in the years since. Some of them have been in larger cities/towns than I preferred but there were always places to connect to the earth and the other elements. I worked at many things, but after not completing my original course of study at UCLA (astronomy/math with minors in physics and engineering) I never really sought a career. I worked at whatever caught my interest or what was available, almost always landing the jobs for which I had applied. One day, I received three telephone calls of acceptance and I had to decide. I do not recall what any of them were, but I remember considering the feel of the facility, the hours and the commute but since all had offered pay that was acceptable to me, I did not revisit that factor at all. 

I married briefly in the early 70s and though we were only together a short time we are still friends. I married again in the later 70s and have 5 daughters, all of whom I love dearly and who are amazing women and mothers in their own right, however that marriage fell apart long before our divorce and we are not on speaking terms. He did become fodder for some great stories, though!

Over these many years, I have lived in Michigan, California, Maryland, Colorado, Wisconsin, Washington, Oregon, Texas, North Carolina and finally was able to put down real roots here in Maine in early 2008. I might have stayed planted in NC, if not for the climate; I connected as well with the people there as I have here but I truly need the 4 season climate with a real, cold, snowy winter that seems to be embedded deep in my DNA. I am a woman of the Northlands, as I say; a peasant, a farmer, and though I love the folks here with whom I have connected (you DO know who you are!) I am most at home when surrounded by the natural world. The plants and animals that live here naturally, and the domestic ones we love, care for and use, these beings are my reason for being, I think. This is the thumbnail version of "how I got here." Turning 75 this week, I will be spending this year celebrating what is. Yes, my body hurts, most days, most of the time. Yes, I do not have the get up and go that I used to. But I want to focus on the joy of "I CAN." For a full year. While I can. 

Enjoy the ride!

Not much to see (yet) but ... things are growing!

 Look at my annual garden and the perennial plants and if you are not as familiar with them as I am, you will probably notice nothing. Most of my work this past few days has been unremarkable... getting ready to lay cardboard and mulch against weeds, pruning back vines and bines and hauling the prunings into a stash area from which I can pick and choose basket making materials next week, when it rains.

The few crocus are finally blooming and I see tulips coming up, but they are few and in an odd place. But little by little, things are moving forward here.

1. vine 2. bine

Plant factoid of the day: Vines climb and support themselves by using tendrils that reach out from the opposite side of a leaf at a node. Bines (think of the word "bind") twine their whole stems around whatever they are climbing on, and even around their own stems if they reach out and find one or more before they find something else to cling to.

In the annual garden, the garlic is up and tiny onion seedlings have been planted. They do not show in pictures yet, but let the wet spring days give way to a few warmer sunnier ones and they will show that they are holding their own. Peas are just beginning to peek through the earth in places and today, May 2, I planted the second round. 

Most of the lettuce seedlings did not survive this year. Shit happens. But I have seeded some directly into the garden, trans planted the 5 or so that I could and started more inside. Never give up.

My healthy transplanted cabbage seedlings make me look like I know what I am doing  but of course I did not get pictures of them. LOL  

I believe the last round of indoor seedlings was started today... mostly winter squash and some melons. I need to pick up a short season watermelon seed in town this week and I think I can call it done.