March 18, 2010

  • Springtime in Vermont

    We went to the neighbor's up the road at Pagan Lane tonight to celebrate Gwynneth's birthday. The house was a jostle with the activity of the kids, the cats and the feeling in the air of sap running. We are becoming energized and strong with the promise of thawing ground and the spring freshet. The roads are rutted, muddy, with a thin veneer of ice just above the bedrock. Bear tracks have been found at the Farm's lower compost pile. Brian pisses on the piles to ward off invaders, the male marking his territory. Bears are out and about, hungry after a winter's hibernation. Compost seems easy and delectable with no berries to be found.

    Here at our home we have taken down the bird feeders, removed the suet to the freezer in anticipation of the bears awakening in our neck of the woods. The garden edges are appearing as snow is receding. I look at the ground wanting to be worked. I plot how I will manage gardening with restrictions on my back. I will have to plant tall things, pole beans and sunflowers, trellised cucumbers. We entertain thoughts of expanding the deck and building planters that would be at my waist height so I can stand upon the ground with the soil at my hands to be worked.

    I've been told by my physical therapist that I need more rhythmical aerobic exercise. I don't use my lower body enough in my sedentary job to give my back muscles the balance that they need. So we are investing in a recumbent bike. We're getting rid of the green wing recliner. I like the chair but it is too big for our Lilliputian house. We'll move the green couch out into the living room and the bike will go in the television room. We'll place a rocking chair in the room for Erik and I will ride the bike in the morning and sometimes at night.

    Lately, I have been thinking that I am boring. I have reached out to old friends on Facebook and in Canada. I miss my kids, miss the feeling of family that comes with their physical presence in my life. I feel disconnected from my mother, my sister is neither comfort or companion to me of late. It occurred to me today that my new hobby could be the refurbishing of me- body, mind, spirit. Body has been sadly neglected of my attention. I could do the whole visualization think, I suppose, cut out pictures of the shape I'd like to be, mold myself into a middle aged fit woman. I keep trying to change my diet, but I love sugar and carbs more than is good for me. I have more fiber in my diet than I have had in a long time. Riding the recumbent bike, going nowhere but to me might be the better destination for now.

    Time for bed. No more ruminating.

    blessings abound