I miss blogging

Back in the day when this blog was titled "His Big Fat Indian Wedding," it brought me a lot of relief. It was a place to vent and to keep a real- time diary of of the carnage that ensued at the end of my marriage, a place to document the facts, and to think out loud. There was community and a certain artistry. Everyone's blog was a bit different in appearance. I liked that creativity. And the widgets. Remember widgets? I find Substack less interesting in its presentation. So I'm just gonna stay here. I want to start reading the blogs I followed then--if they exist. I hope to blog regularly again too. I need to see my thoughts in black and white. Shine some light on/through them. Which is literally what happens to words on a screen. My life is a wreck in a few different ways right now. I'm also very happy. I do a lot of things to scrub off the crud so I can see the happiness. It's fairly easy to do that in Minnesota in the spring. Super easy if you like to garden. I'm crazy about flowers. And vegetables. Trees too. Last spring my partner and I planted a native wildflower garden in our parkway. Thirty-some two-inch plants. Don't expect blooms the first year, I told him. It's all about putting down roots.

This year there will be flowers. In fact, some have already completed their first bloom cycle. Here is what is in the wildflower garden: Hairy beard tongue. How did it get its name? I don't know. The stems are hairy. No beard and tongue though. Thank god. There's probably a story there somewere. Orange butteryfly weed. Whorled milk weed--which is quite bossy and spreading all over. That's fine for now. Next year I might be out there with a weed whacker. Blue sage. The wild rabbits stole one these immediately after planting. There were then three left. Two were regulary dined on as soon as they poked their stems out of the cold dirt this spring. We covered them with cages. Yep. Here the bunnies roam free, and the plants are put in cages. Anisse hyssop. Prairie smoke. Wild petunia. Golden Alexander. Jacob's ladder. Stiff goldenrod. Wild blue asters. I chose these plants because they are attractive to birds and butterflies--and good for the whole business of pollinating. I love the idea of having native plants in my yard. Many of the plants that were here when I moved in are native too. And I'm trying to grow the things that my dad grew when I was a kid. Hollyhocks, irises, zinnias. I was always super proud of those flowers when I took a bouquet to school for the May altar which was devoted to the Virgin Mary. I have absolutely nothing to do with a church of any kind nowadays--and haven't for a very long time. My yard is my church. I feel serene there. I feel worthwhile. That my efforts will yield something good and beautiful. Here's an ecoprint from the wildflower garden. The ecoprinting was my first attempt. I plan to do more of it.

Mostly, when it comes to art, I make collages.