We're sure that by now you're getting used to the erratic schedule on which we write blogs. Stay tuned: It looks as if it's going to get a lot more erratic. The middle two weeks of July we'll be at Brushwood Folklore Center (Sherman NY), the first week attending one of the best festivals in the northeast, Sirius Rising. (Remember Orion's dog Sirius? He's the reason we call this warm season dog days. In mid-July, the dawn sun rises between earth and Sirius.) The second week we'll be on site basically meeting old friends who will also atend Starwood: ACE's* massive festival and party.
Festivals and festival speakers seem now to us to fall into definite categories: Some festivals, those that refuse to pay speakers or even reimburse them for honest travel expenses, are only a money machine for the promoters. Other festivals pay to get good speakers and musicians but have a hard time breaking even. These, though, are definitely much more worth attending.
Speakers and presenters as well fall into two distinct categories: The "big names" who charge the earth and are pushing the same old tired message; and those who have a new and different view (which they have thought through past the point of ego-stroking blither). Here the pattern is to charge very little if anything, and to be well worth listening to.
With both speakers and festivals, then, we ourselves perceive a strong negative correlation (note: negative) between sincerity and profit.
So how can you tell which gatherings are worth attending? You really can't, unless you can psychometrize the announcements they publish. You pays your money and you takes your choice. After once or twice researching Festival X or Speaker Y, you'll at least have something to push against; you can review the experience and say to yourself, "Not this!"
We can promise that at the ones we attend, the organizers are not making much if anything in the way of profit. We ourselves ask for expenses but never an honorarium.
Meantime, get out and sniff around any festivals you can get to. Do your research. Look at the attendees and listen to them. Where do they fall on the Flake/Weird Index? Look at the program. Is it too bizarre or too hackneyed or too gasping to fit your interests?
By the way, has anybody got any ideas on ways we can compensate for the carbon footprint that we incur with the bonfires?--ways beyond making attendees pay for carbon credits.
We hope to cross paths with you at one or another of these gatherings.
Blessed be. Gavin and Yvonne
- - - - - - - - -
* The Association for Consciousness Expansion
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Saturday, July 5, 2008
Our Week in the Garden
Let us apologize for not keeping the blog updated. If there is a problem, it is the garden. We live on a city lot; our Spread is 44 feet wide and ... maybe ... 100 feet front to back with everything behind the house a steep uphill climb. The house and the front lawn presently occupy the streetside half of it. If this nation continues on its present track, one of these days we will put in a front fence, ideally securing it where plain traces of an earlier fence remain in the retaining wall, and dig up the lawn too. Sure, we know full well that growing our own is definitely a non-profit operation; still, it's worth it for the reward of having really fresh vegetables, free of pesticides and all the rest of the toxins that abound in the environment.
So far this year we've had four feeds of asparagus and three feeds of rhubarb; we've lost count of the feeds of snap peas (mange-tout or eat-'em-all or snow peas) and green beans--many of which now reside in the freezer section of the fridge after being tray-frozen.
Today we're cooking up the first batch of plums off the two trees we planted, and we'll probably have harvard beets with lunch. The small beets from the thinning of the rows go well in that recipe. This besides the ongoing supply of tender young beet greens for salads.
The first tomatoes have come in, of what promises to be a very heavy crop.
Birds are wreaking havoc among the raspberries, having previously had a go at the strawberries. We find that feeding the local cats is an enormous help in vigilance over berries of every sort. So long as they loiter around the yard, the birds take their appetites elsewhere.
Between all that, and putting a new roof on the conservatory, and painting the back of the house, it's a good thing we're "retired" (ironic smile). Otherwise we'd never manage to get any of it done.
Yvonne has to go now. She's about to time the blanching of another batch of mange-tout peas. Oh, and did I mention the gooseberries and the apricots?
The compost bin has become even more of a shrine for certain creatures, and the volunteer toad is doing his part to restrain the airborne population. Talk about a squatter ... It's all a beautiful demonstration of the Mother's bounteous cycle, with us gratefully functioning as enablers or custodians.
Blessed be those who walk respectfully on the Earth. Gavin and Yvonne
So far this year we've had four feeds of asparagus and three feeds of rhubarb; we've lost count of the feeds of snap peas (mange-tout or eat-'em-all or snow peas) and green beans--many of which now reside in the freezer section of the fridge after being tray-frozen.
Today we're cooking up the first batch of plums off the two trees we planted, and we'll probably have harvard beets with lunch. The small beets from the thinning of the rows go well in that recipe. This besides the ongoing supply of tender young beet greens for salads.
The first tomatoes have come in, of what promises to be a very heavy crop.
Birds are wreaking havoc among the raspberries, having previously had a go at the strawberries. We find that feeding the local cats is an enormous help in vigilance over berries of every sort. So long as they loiter around the yard, the birds take their appetites elsewhere.
Between all that, and putting a new roof on the conservatory, and painting the back of the house, it's a good thing we're "retired" (ironic smile). Otherwise we'd never manage to get any of it done.
Yvonne has to go now. She's about to time the blanching of another batch of mange-tout peas. Oh, and did I mention the gooseberries and the apricots?
The compost bin has become even more of a shrine for certain creatures, and the volunteer toad is doing his part to restrain the airborne population. Talk about a squatter ... It's all a beautiful demonstration of the Mother's bounteous cycle, with us gratefully functioning as enablers or custodians.
Blessed be those who walk respectfully on the Earth. Gavin and Yvonne
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Armchair Strategists
This is Yvonne's musing, nobody else's. Feedback goes to her alone.
The countries now labeled Ireland and Northern Ireland have been the scene of untold sorrow and grief, the scene where thousands of lives have been aborted, wasting their talents and their skills and their potential, visiting grief and loss on their families and associates in needless warfare laid on the land by--whom else?--by religious leaders. We ourselves in this generation are living witnesses to essentially the same pattern being inflicted today on the Middle East, in Africa, in North Korea--again--by religious leaders.
So whether the front lines of battle be official or guerrilla or catch-as-catch-can, where are the self-appointed old men who daily urge murder and destruction in the name of their religion? Why, they're at home, thanks, clean and comfortable, well-fed, safe from danger, with time on their hands to think up new accusations against the Enemy, those faceless humans who bear the artificial label "to be destroyed for not believing as I believe."
Let's indulge ourselves a moment in the name of fantasy. What if, in the Middle East, people were to say something to this effect? "Hey! Let's knock off this nonsense and go home to what's left of our life. Let's let the old men meet with wooden swords in the soccer stadium to fight out their own battles if they're so deeply troubled by their aging prostates. It's not really our problem. Didn't Allah tell us somewhere in the holy book that it's okay to live and let live? Let's all cut each other a little slack and do something beneficial--just for the novelty of it."
But that's only my fantasy. It probably won't amount to anything.
Occasionally I fantasize about what might have happened in the Emerald Isle if the touchy old religious leaders had all gone away and some sensible person (probably a woman) had said, "Let's dump these dominator religions altogether, each with their malevolent juju-on-a-stick, and let's return to the gentle worship of the Lady Who was here before any of these soreheads hit town."
Just a fantasy. Never mind.
Blessed be those who refuse to buy into the propaganda. Yvonne
The countries now labeled Ireland and Northern Ireland have been the scene of untold sorrow and grief, the scene where thousands of lives have been aborted, wasting their talents and their skills and their potential, visiting grief and loss on their families and associates in needless warfare laid on the land by--whom else?--by religious leaders. We ourselves in this generation are living witnesses to essentially the same pattern being inflicted today on the Middle East, in Africa, in North Korea--again--by religious leaders.
So whether the front lines of battle be official or guerrilla or catch-as-catch-can, where are the self-appointed old men who daily urge murder and destruction in the name of their religion? Why, they're at home, thanks, clean and comfortable, well-fed, safe from danger, with time on their hands to think up new accusations against the Enemy, those faceless humans who bear the artificial label "to be destroyed for not believing as I believe."
Let's indulge ourselves a moment in the name of fantasy. What if, in the Middle East, people were to say something to this effect? "Hey! Let's knock off this nonsense and go home to what's left of our life. Let's let the old men meet with wooden swords in the soccer stadium to fight out their own battles if they're so deeply troubled by their aging prostates. It's not really our problem. Didn't Allah tell us somewhere in the holy book that it's okay to live and let live? Let's all cut each other a little slack and do something beneficial--just for the novelty of it."
But that's only my fantasy. It probably won't amount to anything.
Occasionally I fantasize about what might have happened in the Emerald Isle if the touchy old religious leaders had all gone away and some sensible person (probably a woman) had said, "Let's dump these dominator religions altogether, each with their malevolent juju-on-a-stick, and let's return to the gentle worship of the Lady Who was here before any of these soreheads hit town."
Just a fantasy. Never mind.
Blessed be those who refuse to buy into the propaganda. Yvonne
Thursday, June 12, 2008
You can't be my friend
We Frosts have a relatively wide circle of friends and aquaintances. With the passage of time many of them have become divorced or have separated. For years we have ignored a common assumption: that is, that we are not supposed to remain friends with both parties to the breakup. Ridiculous as it seems, when you've been friendly with, let us say, both the husband and the wife, after a divorce you can be friends with only one of them.
It isn't true, you know. We can remain friends with both of them as individuals as well as friends with them as a couple. Our principal guideline in behaving thus is this : Never discuss one party's doings with the other party. Genuine friends are not so thick on the ground that we can afford to lose either or both.
As well as couples, covens and groups break up. Here, deplorably, we see exactly the same phenomenon. Instead of separating and then still working rationally together for the common good of the Movement (the Community) toward shared goals, especially on mundane matters, or simply going their own way, the two groups assume that now they have to hate each other--to such a degree that third parties outside, who now have friends in both the groups, are hated and reviled because we are so stupid that we don't see the terrible things the "other" fraction of the former group is doing. It doesn't take an Einstein to figure out that this behavior pattern isn't doing any good for the community or for our mutual spirituality. Must we assume that pagans are incapable of rational behavior?
Such either/or sulking and pouting behavior occurs on the playground of second-grade seven-year-olds. It is unworthy of self-styled "adults". Please just get over yourselves, you individuals who claim to exhibit adult behavior. Do something useful with your lives instead of staying crouched panting for the death of your new enemies. Don't you still share some inkling of the feeling that almost any pagan is better company than almost any (say) Christian?
Blessed be those who can demonstrate their maturity. Gavin and Yvonne
It isn't true, you know. We can remain friends with both of them as individuals as well as friends with them as a couple. Our principal guideline in behaving thus is this : Never discuss one party's doings with the other party. Genuine friends are not so thick on the ground that we can afford to lose either or both.
As well as couples, covens and groups break up. Here, deplorably, we see exactly the same phenomenon. Instead of separating and then still working rationally together for the common good of the Movement (the Community) toward shared goals, especially on mundane matters, or simply going their own way, the two groups assume that now they have to hate each other--to such a degree that third parties outside, who now have friends in both the groups, are hated and reviled because we are so stupid that we don't see the terrible things the "other" fraction of the former group is doing. It doesn't take an Einstein to figure out that this behavior pattern isn't doing any good for the community or for our mutual spirituality. Must we assume that pagans are incapable of rational behavior?
Such either/or sulking and pouting behavior occurs on the playground of second-grade seven-year-olds. It is unworthy of self-styled "adults". Please just get over yourselves, you individuals who claim to exhibit adult behavior. Do something useful with your lives instead of staying crouched panting for the death of your new enemies. Don't you still share some inkling of the feeling that almost any pagan is better company than almost any (say) Christian?
Blessed be those who can demonstrate their maturity. Gavin and Yvonne
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Stonehenge Undecoded
Before we begin this blog let us apologize for not being very up to date. The garden is taking a lot of attention and time with the snap peas in full production, as well as strawberries, lettuces, beet greens, and radishes. This year even the tomatoes look as if the crop will be abundant. Some of the plants are already showing four trusses.* The tomatoes' sideshoots are going into the mix of salad greens, because they offer an extremely high content of calcium.
* the British term for sideshoots that bear fruit.
But enough of that. Now for the real intent of today's utterance.
We very much enjoyed the National Geographic revelation this week of findings in the Stonehenge area, and cannot sufficiently praise the work of Professor Mike Parker-Pearson.
We would like to suggest an alternate explanation for the moving of the sarsens. Any farmer knows that the time to move heavy objects, such as sledding farrowing houses on a pig farm, is midwinter when the ground is frozen. If we look at temperature observations during the Holocene, we can see quite clearly that a cold spell occurs at the time of the major construction of Stonehenge. The evidence for this is proxy, of course; but ice cores and other evidence suggest that there was a short-lived climatic shift--and there is some evidence that there was also a worldwide reduction in precipitation. It is a stretch, but some people believe this to be a primary cause of the collapse of the Old Kingdom of Egypt.
What if they just sledded the sarsens on iced pathways? What if, instead of building simple earth ramps to tilt for erection of the stones, they iced the surface?
Another factor here might be that during summer these gatherer-hunter people would most likely be working to enhance their food stores. Why not then start construction perhaps at winter solstice or indeed even earlier at Samhain, when the man- and woman-power were not busy with their gathering-hunting tasks?
We were most intrigued at the parallels postulated to the Hindu sacred-river cultures of today. It is a real joy for us to share this planet with one (Parker-Pearson) who is not so confined by dogma and who has the cojones to reach beyond conventional wisdom and its accepted assumptions, thus perhaps giving a further reason to believe that these ancient peoples migrated right across the continent and were the forebears of our Celtic ancestors.
Blessed be those who dare to think beyond conventional ideas. Gavin and Yvonne
* the British term for sideshoots that bear fruit.
But enough of that. Now for the real intent of today's utterance.
We very much enjoyed the National Geographic revelation this week of findings in the Stonehenge area, and cannot sufficiently praise the work of Professor Mike Parker-Pearson.
We would like to suggest an alternate explanation for the moving of the sarsens. Any farmer knows that the time to move heavy objects, such as sledding farrowing houses on a pig farm, is midwinter when the ground is frozen. If we look at temperature observations during the Holocene, we can see quite clearly that a cold spell occurs at the time of the major construction of Stonehenge. The evidence for this is proxy, of course; but ice cores and other evidence suggest that there was a short-lived climatic shift--and there is some evidence that there was also a worldwide reduction in precipitation. It is a stretch, but some people believe this to be a primary cause of the collapse of the Old Kingdom of Egypt.
What if they just sledded the sarsens on iced pathways? What if, instead of building simple earth ramps to tilt for erection of the stones, they iced the surface?
Another factor here might be that during summer these gatherer-hunter people would most likely be working to enhance their food stores. Why not then start construction perhaps at winter solstice or indeed even earlier at Samhain, when the man- and woman-power were not busy with their gathering-hunting tasks?
We were most intrigued at the parallels postulated to the Hindu sacred-river cultures of today. It is a real joy for us to share this planet with one (Parker-Pearson) who is not so confined by dogma and who has the cojones to reach beyond conventional wisdom and its accepted assumptions, thus perhaps giving a further reason to believe that these ancient peoples migrated right across the continent and were the forebears of our Celtic ancestors.
Blessed be those who dare to think beyond conventional ideas. Gavin and Yvonne
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Travesty
travesty - burlesque or ludicrous treatment of a serious work or subject; any grotesque or debased imitation. French: travest - dressed to appear ridiculous.
Sometimes a series of events gets us so angry and frustrated that we can't see straight and we have to sound off. We're sounding off here not as dancing Wiccans but as private citizens of the United States. The recent flap over "Should we negotiate with terrorists or should we blast them out of existence?" is a travesty.
Do you remember when Libya under Gadafi was the foremost terrorist nation and they were shopping for nuclear armament? First Washington tried to bomb his house. When that failed, guess what? We negotiated. Gadafi promised to be a good boy and not to go looking for nuclear arms. Last month Mr. Gadafi wrote to George W. Bush complaining that the United States had reneged on the earlier deal, because the Senate in its wisdom was going to allow companies doing business with Libya to be sued for past transgressions.
Do you remember when North Korea was part of the "axis of evil"? Madeleine Albright negotiated an agreement with that nation; by it they would not pursue nuclear technology in return for food and for aid with oil. The Republicans reneged on that deal, but North Korea rattled its sabers, and lo and behold, we negotiated with them. The deal benefited this nation less than the one the Democratic administration had concluded.
Now it's reported that Washington is negotiating with the terrorists in Iraq--in fact we are paying them not to attack American military troops--paying them in cold hard American tax dollars.
Another subject we see in the news is materials supposedly supplied by Iran to terrorists in Iraq. It is suggested that Iran either made these themselves or got them from Russia or China. Why then are the packing crates stenciled in English, in the Roman alphabet?--not in an Arabic alphabet, not in the cyrillic alphabet, not in Chinese characters, but in Roman letters. Were those materials stolen from U. S. stockpiles, or even materials supplied to Iraq in the days when we were friendly with Saddam Hussein?
One last bitch while we're letting off steam. We wrote a blog a few weeks ago about the lady buying dog food to eat. Part of her problem is that she receives a Social Security check which gets adjusted for the cost of living. It sounds wonderful--a system perfect and benign. There's just one minor problem. The CoLA that our enlightened government uses does not figure in the price of food or fuel. Apparently, in Washington's Olympian indifference, these are not essential items to be calculated. In our CoLA all we Frosts can do is go out into the garden and beat the tomato plants so they'll give us an adequate crop this year. But you, my friends, can do something more emphatic. You can tell everyone what unadulterated BS the Republican stance of not-negotiating with terrorists really is. They've done it; they're doing it; actually it has worked.
You may rest assured, of course, that the administration has read both the Koran and Mao's Little Red Book. From the Koran source, "One sword is worth 10,000 words." From the Little Red Book, "Trouble at home? Start a war."
Okay; we've gotten it out of our systems. It does make us feel better ... until we turn on the news again. If you aren't angry, and if you're not planning to vote, boys and girls, you're not paying attention. As St. Timothy Leary said (whom that same Gadafi saved from the CIA and the Black Panthers), "Hold your nose and vote."
Ah well. Just keep payin' your taxes; everything will be okay. Blessed be. Gavin and Yvonne
Sometimes a series of events gets us so angry and frustrated that we can't see straight and we have to sound off. We're sounding off here not as dancing Wiccans but as private citizens of the United States. The recent flap over "Should we negotiate with terrorists or should we blast them out of existence?" is a travesty.
Do you remember when Libya under Gadafi was the foremost terrorist nation and they were shopping for nuclear armament? First Washington tried to bomb his house. When that failed, guess what? We negotiated. Gadafi promised to be a good boy and not to go looking for nuclear arms. Last month Mr. Gadafi wrote to George W. Bush complaining that the United States had reneged on the earlier deal, because the Senate in its wisdom was going to allow companies doing business with Libya to be sued for past transgressions.
Do you remember when North Korea was part of the "axis of evil"? Madeleine Albright negotiated an agreement with that nation; by it they would not pursue nuclear technology in return for food and for aid with oil. The Republicans reneged on that deal, but North Korea rattled its sabers, and lo and behold, we negotiated with them. The deal benefited this nation less than the one the Democratic administration had concluded.
Now it's reported that Washington is negotiating with the terrorists in Iraq--in fact we are paying them not to attack American military troops--paying them in cold hard American tax dollars.
Another subject we see in the news is materials supposedly supplied by Iran to terrorists in Iraq. It is suggested that Iran either made these themselves or got them from Russia or China. Why then are the packing crates stenciled in English, in the Roman alphabet?--not in an Arabic alphabet, not in the cyrillic alphabet, not in Chinese characters, but in Roman letters. Were those materials stolen from U. S. stockpiles, or even materials supplied to Iraq in the days when we were friendly with Saddam Hussein?
One last bitch while we're letting off steam. We wrote a blog a few weeks ago about the lady buying dog food to eat. Part of her problem is that she receives a Social Security check which gets adjusted for the cost of living. It sounds wonderful--a system perfect and benign. There's just one minor problem. The CoLA that our enlightened government uses does not figure in the price of food or fuel. Apparently, in Washington's Olympian indifference, these are not essential items to be calculated. In our CoLA all we Frosts can do is go out into the garden and beat the tomato plants so they'll give us an adequate crop this year. But you, my friends, can do something more emphatic. You can tell everyone what unadulterated BS the Republican stance of not-negotiating with terrorists really is. They've done it; they're doing it; actually it has worked.
You may rest assured, of course, that the administration has read both the Koran and Mao's Little Red Book. From the Koran source, "One sword is worth 10,000 words." From the Little Red Book, "Trouble at home? Start a war."
Okay; we've gotten it out of our systems. It does make us feel better ... until we turn on the news again. If you aren't angry, and if you're not planning to vote, boys and girls, you're not paying attention. As St. Timothy Leary said (whom that same Gadafi saved from the CIA and the Black Panthers), "Hold your nose and vote."
Ah well. Just keep payin' your taxes; everything will be okay. Blessed be. Gavin and Yvonne
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Bulletin from the Garden
We're finally back from Florida Pagan Gathering (FPG), the best one yet. See flapagan.org to learn the particulars of the sponsoring organization, Temple of Earth Gathering. The site is a fantastically beautiful one within Ocala National Forest. All praise to the hard-working, creative staff.
At FPG's bardic circle we enjoyed a lot of bass guitars. What ever happened to saxes? to trumpets? to drums? to all the other instruments? And by the way, what ever happened to intelligible lyrics? A respected music teacher once told Yvonne's glee club,
"Instruments can make music. Humans can make words."
The most beautiful singing voice on earth is meaningless and insulting if the words are indistinguishable.
We saw fewer children on site than in earlier years. Is that because the parents just want to party? Our kids are the future, in spirituality, in creativity, in play as well as in the whole mundane-world culture. If we don't bring them to festivals, we'll lose them to the Muggles and the conformists. Is that what you hope for your descendants (shudder)? Granted, they may see naked people--if they actively seek out the concealed area. And yes, they may get naked themselves. Quel horreur! Sometimes we grind our teeth in such frustration with American "morality"--that is, with inflicted cultural prudishness--that we want to bang our heads against the nearest wall. Didn't thinking "alternative" people learn anything at all from Prohibition and its fallout?
We're planning a trip to Europe this autumn. We'll get to be on a naturist beach in Brittany where gendarmes come down and run off anyone in clothes--the "textiles". It's a glorious feeling on a sunny autumn day to experience sea, sun, breeze on natural bodies. There's a picture postcard available (in Brittany) showing a nude man holding the hand of his nude daughter paddling in the waves. It is untitled; no title is necessary.
Let your kids have that gift at festival. Outgrow cultural assumptions when it is appropriate. Lay aside the shalt-nots of "normal" people. We've seen "normal"--and it's not for the faint of heart.
On our return to West Virginia the lawn was a foot tall, of course; and the snap peas (mange-tout) had grown about two feet. Because our daughter Jo had carefully covered the tomato plants, they in turn were not damaged by a late frost. We're looking forward to a heavy crop. This year again, we planted each with a Tums tablet at its base to furnish the calcium that prevents blossom-end rot. (All this is gardener-jargon. Ignore it if your interests lie elsewhere.) Adding a few tomato-leaf tips to your green salad will help with any lack of calcium; and we all know that a deficiency of calcium is the defining factor for osteoporosis in people of all genders. Don't add too many leaves, though. An excess can upset your tummy.
While we were away the asparagus buds did not get harvested, so more of it went to seed than we usually let happen. In one way asparagus resembles rhubarb: They both need infinite patience. It is best to wait two years before you crop either of them, even when you start them from good root stock.
Blessed be each one who seeks. Gavin and Yvonne
At FPG's bardic circle we enjoyed a lot of bass guitars. What ever happened to saxes? to trumpets? to drums? to all the other instruments? And by the way, what ever happened to intelligible lyrics? A respected music teacher once told Yvonne's glee club,
"Instruments can make music. Humans can make words."
The most beautiful singing voice on earth is meaningless and insulting if the words are indistinguishable.
We saw fewer children on site than in earlier years. Is that because the parents just want to party? Our kids are the future, in spirituality, in creativity, in play as well as in the whole mundane-world culture. If we don't bring them to festivals, we'll lose them to the Muggles and the conformists. Is that what you hope for your descendants (shudder)? Granted, they may see naked people--if they actively seek out the concealed area. And yes, they may get naked themselves. Quel horreur! Sometimes we grind our teeth in such frustration with American "morality"--that is, with inflicted cultural prudishness--that we want to bang our heads against the nearest wall. Didn't thinking "alternative" people learn anything at all from Prohibition and its fallout?
We're planning a trip to Europe this autumn. We'll get to be on a naturist beach in Brittany where gendarmes come down and run off anyone in clothes--the "textiles". It's a glorious feeling on a sunny autumn day to experience sea, sun, breeze on natural bodies. There's a picture postcard available (in Brittany) showing a nude man holding the hand of his nude daughter paddling in the waves. It is untitled; no title is necessary.
Let your kids have that gift at festival. Outgrow cultural assumptions when it is appropriate. Lay aside the shalt-nots of "normal" people. We've seen "normal"--and it's not for the faint of heart.
On our return to West Virginia the lawn was a foot tall, of course; and the snap peas (mange-tout) had grown about two feet. Because our daughter Jo had carefully covered the tomato plants, they in turn were not damaged by a late frost. We're looking forward to a heavy crop. This year again, we planted each with a Tums tablet at its base to furnish the calcium that prevents blossom-end rot. (All this is gardener-jargon. Ignore it if your interests lie elsewhere.) Adding a few tomato-leaf tips to your green salad will help with any lack of calcium; and we all know that a deficiency of calcium is the defining factor for osteoporosis in people of all genders. Don't add too many leaves, though. An excess can upset your tummy.
While we were away the asparagus buds did not get harvested, so more of it went to seed than we usually let happen. In one way asparagus resembles rhubarb: They both need infinite patience. It is best to wait two years before you crop either of them, even when you start them from good root stock.
Blessed be each one who seeks. Gavin and Yvonne
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