I am declaring a holiday. (Everybody else has!) I’m not sure it’ll get a huge following, but it should. And you’re invited!
The name is kind of catchy. National Question Day.
I know… lots of people are more into answers but many, many answers, like the right/left either/or kind, feel – well – limiting.
I’m starting with this question:
What shall I plant in my garden?
The photo is a glimpse of what it used to look like. Fabulous Oakleaf Hydrangeas happily spreading over the the bumpy area under the huge pine tree. Thrilled about the acidic soil, like the azaleas sprinkled here and there among them.
I really had no idea what I was doing when I chose them. They were gorgeous. And mowing in that part of the yard, back when we did that sort of thing, didn’t work. Bill dug holes. Done.
They’re mostly gone, now.
Maybe it was just their time. Or maybe it was a global warming thing, after 2020’s massive drought and heat. A few of them made it, but some of those are dying, now, too.
In any event, it’s time to move on. And it’s complicated by the current reality of my knees and sacroiliac joints. And Bill’s apparent lack of the gardening gene.
So, questions!
What can we manage? What are we trying to accomplish? What do we want to invest? (Feel free to add a few of your own…)
Let’s simplify!
What are we trying to accomplish? pretty much covers it all.
Oddly, the immediate answer is figs!
I adore figs and my garden wizard, Randy, delivered these this morning. Overflow from his garden. About three miles away.
Who knew?
The longer term answers include lots of bang for minimal bucks, no chemicals required, emotionally uplifting, and edible.
Recently, the list got a bit more interesting.
Pollinators. And, natives.
And, yes, I’ve been reading Facebook.
Fortunately Randy can help with the garden answers. The other ones are up to me.
Yes, I was peeved when Facebook went down Monday.
And, hell yes, I’m concerned about the whistleblower revelations. Not really surprised, which is sad. But concerned.
Which means – as you’ve guessed – more questions!
Questions I don’t have answers for yet. Questions people I care about and respect are asking, too.
Questions about relationships and information and inspiration and business.
Questions about dangerous lies and influence.
They’re not new questions. It’s just that I’ve figured – reasonably capable person that I am – that I could protect myself.
The allegations about knowingly promoting content designed to negatively – harmfully – alter the sense young women have of body image was a huge reminder, though, that protecting myself is not enough.
I have two granddaughters growing up in this world.
And, sadly, my magic wand doesn’t seem to cover this. Though, in the long run, my intentional actions as a guide and artist and writer will make an empowering difference!
So, for today, I don’t know what I will do with all the new questions I have about Facebook and its “partners”.
What I do know is that I’ll push a button in a bit and add these words to the conversation – on Facebook, among other places.
I also know that I’m making progress on the plan for the garden.
And on my painting.
But first, figs for lunch. Locally grown, chemically free food. Food that feeds the other critters and gives me huge pleasure. Food that’s actually healthy!
And, drizzled with a bit of the phenomenal, thick, sticky balsamic vinegar that followed me home from Italy three years ago, I will have accomplished quite a bit in terms of a magical moment.
The rest of the questions will still be there.
ps… magical moments like the figs help the rest of the stuff get done!
pps… there’s really only one question! If we believe what we say we believe what, then, shall we do?
