I’m slowly working my way around the garden, only prepping areas that it’s time to plant seeds or seedlings in, leaving the rest alone until it’s time.  Yesterday I took the assorted poppy flower seeds out of their short strat period and cleaned up two areas in S’s garden and Y’s rock garden to plant them.  Then I prepped the strawberry bed and added the plants I’ve been growing from E’s seeds.  I’m hoping they’ll take over and produce actual strawberries.

I guess my motivation is a vision I’ve always had of helping a yard toward its potential of becoming a “secret garden”, a surrounding of beauty, tranquility, and health.  It will always be a work in progress, but the possibilities are endless, and the growing benefits to nature and humans are my motivation to keep working each day and year.  If I drop dead doing it, I still will have left the garden hopefully even more a refuge of life and spirit than I found it.  It’s one thing I feel like I can do fairly competently for others while they’re here.

Speaking of tranquility, the dynamic at the house is so different with S away.  Y isn’t as stressed about coming home from school, K can work on his HW undisturbed at the dining table, E can sit quietly in the living room without the tv blasting youtube idiocy, and I can hang out with them without constant interruptions and meltdowns.  I know Avdi can get more work done.  Things are still glaringly wrong with the world outside right now and for years to come, but it’s one less stressor to deal with in a crowded house.

Y actually talked me into walking all the way to the grocery store and back (to spend all their cash on sweets, but who’s judging!).  We had a good time talking about all sorts of things, and they even took my hand a few times, which never happens.  We got to walk on the pedestrian bridge over the highway, my first time, on the way back.  Even though it was exhausting for me to keep up and walk that far, it was worth it knowing they trust me enough now to spend time together and confide personal feelings.

K and I have also been bonding a lot over tech stuff that he’s creating from scratch out of electronic parts he buys.  He’s making me a “doohickie” to test moisture levels of plant soil in my lab.  He’s really skillful in this field, and it gives him practical incentives and experience building something that someone can use.  Half the time I have no idea what he’s saying, but I’m interested, and he takes pride in it.

Well, back to the garden with me.

As expected, the storm flooded Avdi’s yard, but fortunately didn’t reach the veg garden.  Lots of debris everywhere, but nothing like the tornado destruction elsewhere in the area.  He set up the pump to drain the water into the runoff canal, and then set off with S to meet Stacey halfway and hand him off for a week.

I walked over to be around for the other kids, and spend the night.  Needless to say, it was much quieter there!  It was way too wet out to work in the garden, but I found plenty to do indoors.  I even managed to get some sleep.

Yesterday it was cold again, but warm enough to clean up the herb garden a little.  Lots of daffodils are blooming, even after the hail-battering they took.  The beautiful hellebores are finally opening.  The redbuds are starting to bloom.  Down in the lab, lots of cucumbers are germinating.

Sadly, our good friend Joyce and family have to move farther away, so Avdi helped them move large furniture yesterday.

This was a huge wide storm moving very fast across the state and St. Louis area tonight, then crossing the river into IL, with many actual tornadoes on the ground, large hail, continuous t-storms, heavy rain, and very high wind speeds.

I hunkered down near my apt door watching the weather reporting on my phone.  At some points the hail crashing against the windows, the thunder and wind, and the tornado sirens constantly wailing were so loud I couldn’t hear, but I could see the rainbow of severe conditions and tornadic touchdowns speeding across the screen.

As the storm moved east away from us, then the fire and emergency vehicle sirens started up.  And, some more tornado sirens, just for good measure!

Meanwhile, Avdi was down the basement with the kids, reading stories.  Above ground it will be a lake, with big hail balls.

This is how they welcome spring in MO, I guess.  I’ll never get used to this.  But, we seem to have survived once again.  Tomorrow it will be a “normal day”, except with a lot of debris and flooding.

We’re about to get slammed with one of those annoying major midwestern storms, featuring extreme wind (70+), a tornado watch, and kiss your ass goodbye.  I decided to watch apocalypse tv from my apartment for some reason, rather than Avdi’s, even though it’s erev Shabbat.  I made challah, did the usual routine, helped batten down, and then walked, or rather blew, home.  I do hope we all meet again, maybe in Canada, eh!

This post gets more exciting later, but first things first.

It was like 80º yesterday!  I planted collards in the veg garden, and some gladiolus in one of the raised beds against the fence.  Then down to my lab, where I prepped some seeds for stratification in the frig.  I cleaned up the house a little, leaving the kitchen clear for E’s hamantaschen takeover after school.

Avdi and I made up for our postponed monthly date by doing the town.  First we tried The Blue Duck in Maplewood, up on the roof overlooking the town at sunset under a full moon.  It was very windy but beautiful.  The food was excellent “elevated comfort food”, and the craft drinks were inspired.

Next we went to a dance club at The Grove and hung out.  DJs played very loud EDM with cool visual effects, but it was early in the evening so chill.  Then we cruised the strip and landed at Platypus, a friendly neighborhood bar with equally excellent craft drinks and DJ old school music.  Good vibes there.  By then I was truly schnockered.

Eventually we had to return to “real life”, but with a good buzz.

Daffodils were starting to bloom yesterday in the warm air!  I planted four rows of various lettuces, one of mixed kale, and one of pak choi.  Then in my underground lab I started assorted cucumbers.  It seems we have a couple of kids that will gladly devour a whole cucumber for a snack, skin and all!  This year I’m eliminating labor intensive space-hoggers that are cheaper from the store (at least they were), and prioritizing crops that everyone will actually eat.  After that, it’s all flowers!  E has already started some of his own, and Y has lots of requests.

Avdi’s been having particularly difficult days trying to work and deal with kids while still recovering.  The upside is, he gives me more assignments, which I like.  Yesterday’s were: clean up and reorganize the large first aid/medical area downstairs, and make dinner.  S was once again fussing about doing his chores, but this time I refused to help him with one he can do by himself.  I have enough of my own!

Purim is almost here, so today E will probably make hamantaschen when he gets home.  There are two young bakers in the family, so I’m able to pass along the job of making traditional recipes to them.  In the case of Y, it’s one sneaky way of helping them to appreciate their Jewish culture and DNA.

Today was another warm day.  I walked over by way of the tropical store for a water snail for E’s aquarium.   I planted peas in the garden!  Later, Y and I held a ribbon-cutting ceremony to inaugurate the spring ’25 garden season.  Then they adjourned to their tree to ruminate.

It’s been a full couple of days.  On the way to A’s yesterday I stopped at the tropical pet store and picked up E’s ember tetras, plants, and food for his aquarium (and part of his pay for tilling).  E and Y and I spent some time just mesmerized by fish.  They have names: Barry, Garry, Harry, and Larry (though at least some of them are females)!  For me it’s way more fascinating and relaxing to watch the aquarium than streaming stuff.

Y told me they were glad I was back “home”; they miss me when I’m gone.  That really says it all.

The kids had worked on dumping piles of leaves on the veg garden, to be tilled in later.  Better late than never.  Out in the front yard, yellow and purple crocuses were blooming.  It was springlike, and getting warmer.

A and S and I went to the science museum (my first time).  It’s an excellent museum, with an Imax, constantly changing displays, a makerspace, and lots of educational fun activities for kids.  The Dinosaur moves and roars.  The Tardis is an actual one that was used on a Doctor Who set.  They had all the sonic screwdrivers from the beginning.  A large room is devoted to agriculture, soils of each state (notice what NJ’s is called!), and hydroponics.  There’s an outdoor area with chickens and large interactive agricultural machinery.  We had a lot of fun.

I stayed overnight while Avdi got to go out, by way of urgent care to get a deep knife wound stitched up.  Never a dull moment (except for the knife)!  I didn’t sleep much.  K and I eventually made it to the table, where we talked about electronic “doohickies” like garden instruments he can assemble for testing soil, water, etc.  He really is skillful at tech stuff and robotics.

Today E tilled the veg garden, which is now nice and leaf composty.  I’ll let it sit and settle, then start to direct-sow.  Meanwhile, I planted the lavender vera seeds I had been stratifying in the frig., which started the third flat.  Avdi worked on writing his latest book outside, where it was warm and sunny.  I hung around, playing with S and so on, until dinner, a gorgeous charcuterie board by E, then got a ride home.

I’m so relieved it’s spring as far as I’m concerned.  I’m back in my natural habitat.

Finally!  Our first real Shabbat together since the plague was like a reunion with my gkids!  I baked challah, made dinner, cleaned up, met S at the bus, hung out with Y for a long time, talked to E and K, and stayed for a very happy erev meal with everyone there.  Jess joined us.

Poor Avdi was still feeling sickly and sapped, but pushing through  Everyone helped with cleanup, and then I spent time with S until Avdi was able to take me home.  I think the forced quarantine brought us all closer together, and the reunion was restorative.

E liked the idea of tilling the veg garden (and being paid well!), so that may be happening this weekend.  The temps are back to springlike, and the high winds are drying the mud.  I started the job of throwing leaves into the garden to be tilled under along with the winter greens.  I feel optimistic about the soil quality this year.

Even the kids are stressed about the current political fiasco, and worried about how it will affect them.  Kids are the ones who will suffer most if the criminals-in-chief have their way.  It’s a topic that keeps coming up, even though we all want to avoid the anxiety, on top of all the other stressors in their lives.  This is a time when kids need their extended family to be there and united to face the coming threats to their survival and wellbeing.

It seems ironic that POC have been enduring this nightmare for hundreds of years, so it’s no surprise, while some white descendants of colonialist racists are just now waking up to the consequences of their toxic systemic ravaging of our society.  The black writers I follow are like, Y’all white degenerates brought this on your ignorant selves, but we all have to pay the price.  Like typical narcissistic psychopaths, whites try to twist reality around to blame Blacks and informed people, when they’re the ones decimating democracy, and turning our world allies against us.  You know when easygoing Canada censures us, it’s getting real.

Maybe when it gets to the point where all our ex-allies declare war on Nazi America (déjà vu all over again!), it will dawn on them, too late.  By then, most of us may have been deported or escaped to elsewhere, where we’ll find ourselves fighting on the anti-US side.  That would be ironic and sad.

Hopefully it won’t come to that.  The mutiny is already rising.  I wish I could stick around for the finale!