Behold the mighty…stick?

My plants finally came in the mail, though we are currently in the middle of the biggest snow storm of the year, which isn't saying much, but I am thus stuck inside still waiting for spring.  We lost a big cottonwood tree to lightning a few years back and I wanted something to replace it, the nursery catalog had a Dawn Redwood tree that was supposed to grow well in all soils and climates and to grow 3-6' per year so I ordered one.  These trees are cousins of the sequoias of California fame and were thought extinct until someone ran across a small stand in China back in the 1940's.  They used to grow here, at least that's what the fossil guys say, we have plenty of petrified wood and much of it is supposed to come from this species, the only problem is they apparently don't like drought, which may be why they don't grow here any more.  This is very arid country in a normal year and I don't plan on watering this thing for the next fifty years so it won't be our new shade tree.  What I didn't expect was to get a stick.

I had found all the other plants I ordered but couldn't find the mighty dawn redwood in my order, but finally I found a stick with a label on it, yes a literal stick with a few roots and no branches or anything, just a stick.  I decided to try my hand at growing a bonsai again, I had dabbled with it back in high school, and as I have this interesting, otherwise useless, tree (or stick) why not?  So I stuck it in a pot, and it like me, is patiently awaiting the advent of spring when we can both get outside and hopefully become something more interesting than a stick.

The secret to a happy home

Have you ever noticed your home has an attitude, an ambiance, a feeling peculiar to itself?  It does, if you take the time to notice.  What does it say to those entering your door, to the inmates thereof?  What do you want it to say?  I grew up surrounded by dread and fear, disappointment, shame, anger, and despair; I hated going home, no one ever left the light on for me.  I had roommates, not a family.  But that is not what yours (or mine) has to be.

Yes, the decor and design have some effect, but any domicile be it hut or mansion, can be 'homey' with the right inhabitants and a little creativity.  It is not so much the stuff as the people, what is their attitude towards life, themselves, and others?  The ambiance of your surroundings can certainly influence your mood, reinforcing or soothing what is already there, but it is also your attitude that sets the mood of the home.  You can certainly brighten up a room with natural light or a bright paint color or a cheery print, but it is the heart of the dwellers that ultimately determines the ambiance of a home.

Have you ever just walked into a room and could literally, ''cut the tension with a knife," that is what I am talking about.  Is it a place of peace and joy, haven and rest, or is it chaotic or stressful or depressing or angry?  If it is the latter, new paint won't do much, it would be wiser to start by remodeling your heart.  If the principle dwellers in your house are angry or bitter or depressed in how they look at life, it will translate into the ambiance of the home.  So before you buy new drapes in hopes of brightening things up a bit, maybe pull back the shades of your heart and see how deep the dust is piled, it might be time for a little spring cleaning therein.  A happy home is very possible, but it all starts on the inside.

Refugee from civilization

I had a friend who received (and was charged for) a double order of diapers from the Red Big Box store, as her kids were about out of that size, she didn't need that many diapers.  She called the store and they said to just drop them off for a refund.  We live three hours from the nearest store of that sort, which obviously made that idea a little tricky.  When I tell people where we live, they wonder how we live at all.  I just spent the first part of the week in a major metro area with my husband at a conference, while he went to business meetings I got to shop.  It was a somewhat harrowing experience, and I likewise begin to wonder how these people live!

We don't have 24/7 shopping, but neither do I feel alone and isolated amidst a sea of strangers.  I was reminded very much of graduate school, which I accomplished in a major metro area, thankfully I was so busy with school I had little time to be lonely.  It is strange that you can be so alone among so many and so connected among so few.  I suppose it is that we can't get lost in a sea of stranger out here, outcasts from civilization as we are, your neighbors may be nosy and annoying, but they are also there when your world falls apart.  Whereas in the city, you could vanish and none would be the wiser or care if they were.

Spring, by mail!

I have a mid-winter birthday, so just as the festive Christmas joy is dying down and we have nothing to brighten the long, cold, dark days of winter while we await the all too slow advent of Spring, I get to get older too.  But I think I found the perfect present: Spring by mail.  I spent a good three weeks thumbing through the seed and nursery catalogs that start coming in February (sort of like Christmas sales in October!), which in itself banished the winter doldrums and gave me something to ponder and plan and wonder at.  Then I ordered my selections and could wait with anticipation, at least until I forgot about it, as they won't ship their plants to the tundra until April.

Well, it is April and I got a package the other day, completely flummoxed as to what it might be.  It was the first of my plant shipment, so I got to dig and plant a bit six weeks before I can do much of anything outside yet.  I can't wait for the rest to come, it is as close as you can get to Spring in a Box, and it is quite a nice be late birthday present.