It snowed here Friday afternoon and evening—our first measurable snowfall in three years. Bea and Harriet, who’d gotten out of school early, wouldn’t let me go for a run in it until they did a special protective ritual (they say you can’t “pay attention” to the snow when it first starts or it might stop).
In the morning, we woke up to about a half-inch of snow and ice—less than the girls hoped, but they made the best of it, walking in the woods, concocting a slushie with seltzer and ice, and playing with our neighbor’s dog. The snow was mostly gone by the afternoon, when I took this photo of the arugula bed in a corner of our garden:
Look how much the tender leaves are perking up after being encased in ice and snow! Inspired, I ordered our spring and summer garden seeds from Sow True Seed, the Asheville-based organic and heirloom seed company Daniel ordered from last year. I chose six kinds of tomato seeds, two kinds of watermelon, pumpkin, pickling and slicing cucumbers, sunflowers and zinnias, hot and sweet peppers, and strawberry plants. Probably more than we needed, but we can share extras with friends. (If your library has a seed sharing station, like ours in Chatham, you can also get seeds there).
Right now feels like such a time of scarcity and doom, not just in Los Angeles or Asheville, where we have precious friends and family, but everywhere. But we have to keep planting seeds, believing in the power of water and sunlight to make things grow.
Our good friends Michael and Max, who live in El Monte, California, shared this GoFundMe for one of Max’s teachers, who lost her home and everything in it after the devastating Altadena fire:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-the-ballardo-family-rebuild-after-fires
Michael says, “In the midst of all this week’s devastation, I know there are all sorts of charitable needs. But I’d like to take a moment to spotlight this particular GoFundMe for Max’s former teacher. Maestra Ballardo is a brilliant, billingual educator, one who is kind, generous, and always emphasizing the goodness in the children in her classrom. She is one of Durfee Elementary’s very best people. If you’re able to contribute anything, this is someone worthy of your attention.”
Imagine being a teacher who has lost her home, whose students may have also lost homes or family businesses or work. A person who must return to work on Monday to focus on the good, the growth, the future while her own present is so disrupted and uncertain.
If you can manage it, let’s send the Ballardo family some help from North Carolina or wherever frogs are troubled.
Lots of love from us.
Mighty fine looking arugula. What kind of dressing do ya'll make? BTW, thanks for the uplift. I am finding friends all over are reaching for courage and paying attention to nature. Great medicine!
This is a particularly poignant and lovely piece today. So worried about So Cal. And everyone and everything there, including wildlife, plants, and beloved pets. Yet you managed to inject hope. Thank you.