Monday, July 22, 2019

29 Days and Words in Boxes

It has been 29 days since I created a solid piece of writing. I have attempted to maintain my writing practice by journaling, but the last actual piece I completed was done the morning we moved into the Cottage. Leading up to that day there was a last minute flurry of packing things up in the old house and shuffling things around in the new. Because of renovation delays and several other reasons our transition to our new home did not go as smoothly as planned.

There was a carefully laid out Plan A, but as any fan of Leverage knows, you need multiple back-up plans if you want to succeed. Somewhere between Plan D and Plan K we wound up with the guest room filled with boxes and piles of things that don't fit in boxes, two closets and Larry's front room filled with boxes and more piles of things, and boxes stacked three deep along the west wall of the living room. Plans L through R involved shuffling all those boxes around, picking stuff up from temporary counters and niches and dropping it in boxes, then moving those boxes around too. I am habitually a meticulous labeler of moving boxes, but by the time boxes were being reused for the second and third time all the sharpies were misplaced (probably packed in a box!), multiple friends and family members were involved in the Great Box Shuffle of 2019, and accurate labeling became a thing of the past.

What does any of this have to do with my writing? One day last week, when we were finally able to start putting things away where they belong in our new home, I found myself staring at the diminished number of boxes in the guest room. I could actually see the guest room walls and could even see that back corner that I thought had disappeared into the third room, which is a story for another day. Most importantly, I suddenly realized that somehow in all the kerfuffle of the GBS19, I must have dropped all of my words into a mislabeled box, and I had spent the better part of a month miserable without them.

In conversation with a friend I managed to find the pile the word box was buried in, and I've spent the past few days locating and then unpacking it. 


There is a lot going on in my head these days. Suffice it to say that grief, trauma, and therapy are not for the faint of heart. Once upon a time I would have written my way through this process, and I hope to get back to being able to do that. But it wasn't just the difficult words I accidentally boxed up, it was also the ones filled with joy and happiness. I am enjoying unwrapping them all, folding back the tissue paper to see what treasure it has kept safe, holding the words and turning them in my hands with delight the same way I turn the unwrapped ceramic pieces, framed photos, and treasured glassware.

Here are a few of the joyful bits that I've uncovered:

The Juneberry trees were planted in our front yard the day after we officially moved in. Appalachian Creek Nursery helped get our dream of a critter and pollinator friendly yard off to a fine start. When the Wheel of the Year turns back to summer next year we should be harvesting berries from our own trees, if we can manage to save any of them from the bears and the birds. Hopefully there will be a pie or two made with the 
sweet, juicy, goodness and flavor that is a cross between cherry and blueberry. I might even manage to can a few jars, to save some Summer for the coldest Winter days.



We had the day lilies moved from the rockwall garden down to the northeast corner of our property, where we have already started a Forsythia hedge, and plan to create a wildflower garden. Day lilies, Black Eyed Susans, and Milkweed are on the list, and we are happy to take suggestions for other plants!  

The sunflowers Katie started for us in the little greenhouse on the Mountain have bloomed and brightened many days for many people. Have you ever smelled a sunflower? I never had, until curiosity led me to stick my nose into one of the gorgeous flowers in my own garden and I inhaled a mixture of sunshine and spice, golden honey and citrus, and the scent of Summer already leaning into Autumn. 



I love the sunflowers so much and was so delighted by the success of our corn that I had most of the volunteer plants cleared out of the rockwall garden so I could start more of both. I also put in some zucchini and summer squash. It has been a little more than a week, and there are neat little rows of green plants reaching for the sun. I am thinking ahead with anticipation, sure that those crops will not only brighten our Autumn days but also feed our critter neighbors well. 



The land at Bearpath Cottage has let us know that it is fertile and it seems to want to grow things, and both land and house our thriving under our loving care.

We had a temporary visitor one morning! Oldest son Justin and his fiancee Emily found a baby possum on their deck. After careful observation it was apparent that Mom Possum was not returning, and Emily put a lot of effort into finding a wildlife rehabber to take the little guy who we called Jimmy. Rhodes and I took temporary custody of him until Em heard back from Edith Allen Wildlife Sanctuary in Canton, NC, then we gave him a ride out there. As you can see from the photo, he was certainly too small to drive himself. Things we learned: Sometimes Mom Possums have to leave a baby behind. No one seems to know why. But there are a lot of good people doing the work of helping wild critters that need help, and I am deeply grateful to see some of the best of our humanity showing in these environmentally challenged times.




Regarding the Jimmies in our lives: many moons ago Rhodes and I were having a conversation in which he was trying to recall the name of some financial giant. He was certain the name was Jimmy Diamond, or something like that, and he was close! But I was so tickled by that name - Jimmy Diamond - that I decided then and there that that next critter we adopted would have to be named Jimmy. Years down the road (and just a couple of months ago) we spent 18 hours falling in love with a little lost pup, and we called him Jimmy while he was with us. We knew he would be going back to his people, but we just couldn't help ourselves! When he went home the next day we knew the name was lost to us...until Jimmy Possum came along. We've decided that any critter who comes into our temporary care is going to be a Jimmy; a seemingly odd yet simple reminder that it is okay to love knowing that you will have to let go.

The lavender planted with our little bears continues to thrive, and I have already harvested a few bundles to dry. I am excited to make lavender tea and lemonade, and even to try a recipe for lavender cookies. I'll share those recipes and pictures later. But I will be even more excited when I figure out where to hang my drying rack in this house!


There is still much work to be done here, still so many boxes to unpack. I mean that literally and figuratively. But this place feels more like home than anyplace I have ever lived, and I find affirmations of HOME in so many ways. I'll leave you with one more image; one which conveys the timelessness of these processes, and the timelessness of home.



Peace out, peeps.

~sheri