This afternoon I went out to my garden to do a little clean up work.  Last fall I had left the chrysanthemums standing and they were dried up stalks.  I cut them back to make room for spring, and I saw the new growth at the very bottom of the stalks.  Some people walked by and greeted me, and asked “Is anything coming up yet?”  “Oh, yes, take a look,” I said and showed them the tiny green tips of tulip leaves and daffodil leaves poking through the dry brown oak leaves from last fall. 

This small garden is in front of my house along the sidewalk, so anyone walking by may enjoy the flowers. There are hundreds of bulbs: daffodils, tulips, crocus, hyacinths.  Spring is late settling in this year, it has been quite cold.  But we can see that the flowers will bloom in a glorious display.  I’m so glad I planted a new section of tulips last fall.

In late June I will have to dig up about half this garden to make way for a new sidewalk to be poured.  When that is complete, I can replant, and plant more on the other side of the walk also.  I plan to move the peonies over on the other side of the sidewalk.  I moved them from the back yard to the front three years ago.  Poor things, they haven’t resettled yet, and will have to move again.  They seem hardy enough to do that, though, and I think will make a more impressive display all together instead of mixed in with the other plants. 

The year will fly by as usual, and I hope to enjoy each day as it comes.  I wish you joy in each season.  

Saturday, to celebrate her birthday, my friend and I went “out to play.”  In my childhood, children went to their friend’s house, knocked on the door and asked the adult who answered, “Can Julia come out to play?”  Children seldom do this anymore, as their friends may live across town rather than in the neighborhood.  Also, few adults are at home during the day, and children no longer have the freedom to play outdoors without adult supervision.  Children’s lives are full with school, sports, music lessons, church, and organized clubs and activities, not to mention their computer gadgets and toys.  But I still think of this phrase when I go out with friends.  It has a ring of freedom.

We ate lunch together: bagel with cream cheese, salted salmon, capers, red onions and tomato.  Her bagel was flavored with asiago and parmesan cheese, while mine had rosemary and olive oil.  She had lemonade, and I had iced tea. “What are capers?” she asked me, and my short reply was, “They are some kind of plant.”  Capers are the small flower bud of a plant that grows near the Mediterranean Sea.  They are harvested at a specific time in their growth and are pickled in brine.  Just a few capers add a flavor boost to an otherwise ordinary dish.  I have learned that in ancient times, capers were used as currency along trade routes. Isn’t it amazing how far our food travels before we eat it?

After lunch we went to a museum.  The main exhibit is about people seeking freedom, immigrating to USA for that purpose.  It’s an interactive display, with many “hands on” activities.  One such activity includes a small suitcase and many items, such as clothing, books, a china plate, a baseball, a comb.  These are on a table, and the visitor is invited to select what to take, and fit it in the small suitcase.  I could see that you couldn’t get it all in.  Did we try? 

My friend is a recent immigrant to this country, and I have travelled many times to China, with the rule of “40 pounds only.”  I felt the display was too close to reality to enjoy playing with it.  What would you take along for a year’s sojourn in a foreign land?  What would you take if you were leaving your homeland forever?   So many immigrants arrived with nothing except the clothes they were wearing, a little bit of cash, and huge hopes for a life better than the one they left behind.  This exhibit is historical, focusing mainly on the people who immigrated in the 1880’s and early 1900’s, but the waves of immigration have not diminished.  As the world is full of oppression and war, people still are looking for freedom.

As we in America daily see our freedom eroding, thousands of people arrive here looking for more freedom than they left behind.  The exhibit we visited asked us to ponder what freedom really is, and where it originates.  Is there a freedom of the soul, regardless of circumstances?  Is freedom political?  Can we find true freedom by leaving a place or by arriving in a place?  How can we preserve freedom, and can we offer freedom to others?   What are the responsibilities inherent in a free society?  What dangers accompany freedom? 

What are your thoughts on freedom?   

As ever, Julia

Yesterday, the temperature rose a degree or two above freezing, so a little bit of snow melted, and some of the ice in driveways, but then at night it was quite slick again.  This morning is bright and clear, but still well below freezing.  There is no school today as it is end of term.  I’m happy to be “off.”   

The year is shaping up with commitments to classes to keep our teaching licenses, plans for the garden and house projects, and a wedding we plan to attend in the fall.  Our grandchildren are getting taller and taller, and more and more accomplished in their pursuits.  We went to a 7^th grade band concert in which one of them played, and were surprised and pleased by its quality.

I’d like to build a tree house in the backyard, but we’ll see if Dear Husband is up to it this year.  Those boys are certainly big enough to help with this project, and it is for them. I’m thinking of four posts sunk into the ground with concrete, four bracing pieces, perhaps diagonally set between each two posts, and four pieces connecting the four posts at the top.  Then the floor boards crossing and connecting to the long pieces.  Finally a railing around the edge, and a ladder to climb to it.   All this surrounding a tall  Arbor Vita tree.  We can see the remains of an earlier tree house from long, long ago in that tree.  I can picture it easily, but I’m not strong enough to build it myself. 

What are your thoughts today?  How is your year shaping up?   

As ever,  Julia