It’s hard to concentrate on feet and toes; yet they carry me everywhere I need to go. My poor feet were so sore after gardening last weekend. I think it was the hard-toed boots. We were clearing buckthorn from behind the house with a chainsaw. The city comes this week to haul the brush away for free.
So we were stooped low to the ground in leather gloves, long-sleeved T-shirts, heavy jeans, and safety glasses, chain sawing these medium-sized buckthorn. Invasive species. Birds like the berries, but they are laxatives. Not good for them. Buckthorns grow like weeds. It was good to let them go. We planted three red dogwoods in their place. And one cranberry bush next to the peonies.
But my feet. My feet are a size 8 (1/2 size larger than they were 20 years ago) and shaped like my mother’s. I thought she had beautiful feet. I saw them a lot growing up in the South where it’s hot and open-toed shoes are the norm. She always kept her toes finely manicured, toenails painted. I remember those 70’s nail polish and lipstick colors, frosted and speckled. I wasn’t much for painting the nails back then. I like it now but don’t indulge much.
Bottom line is I don’t pay enough attention to my feet. I really should treat them better. I notice them when I’m in contorted positions to garden or do yard work. I notice them when I ride the Honda Rebel, Ramona, or the Suzuki Savage, Suzie. They are the only thing between me and the road. They hold me up — a firm steady foundation.
I don’t go barefoot very much. I have tender soles and like something between me and the ground. Unless I’m sitting in the grass or on the deck. Maybe at the labyrinth’s center. I like walking the grass labyrinth in bare feet. Breath anchored to the bottom of my feet. That voice kept playing in my head as I walked. Breath anchored to sounds, to hands, to the bottom of my feet. Grounded and present.
Feet are our ground, the place where the rubber meets the road. Unless you’re a couch potato, a computer nut, a TV freak (I’ve been all those things). Then the butt might be the place you find ground.
It’s my gardening day. I set up a 4-hour a week gardening practice when I was in Kansas City a few weekends ago. It’s part of the structure of my creative work. Last weekend, I bet we spent 6 or 7 hours, back-to-back in the yard. And I’ve got the sore lumbar to prove it. I’m not as nimble as I used to be. But that can’t stop me. I did use one of those garden pads for my knees when I was chain sawing at the neck of those buckthorns. Liz had it when I moved in. She’s got knee pads, too, forest green.
The garden pad is robin’s-egg blue. I found out from Antiques Roadshow that robin’s-egg blue originated in the 1880’s, a favorite color of Victorian times. A woman had an antique copper bracelet with robin’s-egg blue stones. It was worth about $10,000. It would have looked nice around the ankle, adorning the feet.
I recently saw Georgia-born Cat Power on Austin City Limits. She had a bracelet half way up her arm. Metal with a charm hanging off of it. Reminded me of Cleopatra or Wonder Woman. Either way, she wins.
-handwritten practice, posted on red Ravine, Wednesday, May 6th, 2009
-related to Topic post: WRITING TOPIC – FEET & TOES
How goes/went your gardening day, QM? And do you have a favorite nursery where you buy your plants?
BTW, I didn’t know you’ve been a couch potato, computer nut, or TV freak in past lives. I was only a TV freak as a child. And I can, if I don’t watch it, spend too much time on the computer. None of those vocations, however, are very grounding. Although any one of them can be soothing, I think.
I have a great photo of painted toenails that I plan to post soon, while this Topic is fresh. But I wanted to say that I think Robin Egg Blue would be a good color for painted toenails. 8)
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ybonesy, thanks for asking! I went out about 1pm and just got into the house again with everything cleaned up and put away. There is a huge storm fast approaching. Liz got home from work just in time to help me bag up some leaves and yard waste. I tell you though, I am exhausted after 5 hours of gardening and yardwork. I did take a couple of breaks but pretty much kept going until I got to a good stopping place.
Robin’s-egg blue would be a good color for toenails. I recently became a Flickr friend with two guys who are into painting their toenails. I thought that was pretty cool. Some great colors, greens and dark blues. One is in St. Louis. I hooked up after posting some Kansas City photos.
I’ll come back and talk about plants a little later. Got to get to the shower!
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QM, how funny that you made friends with the toenail painters. I love to paint other people’s toenails. I sometimes paint my girls’ toenails, and I’ll make little tiny flowers or other decorations on them.
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ybonesy, for plants, we have a neighbor across the street we call the “Garden Lady.” Her parents owned her home and yard before her and had many plants. She is carrying on the tradition. Her and her husband are always out working the yard. They have all kinds of plants blooming in every season, a fish pond, you name it. Anyway, she gives us some plants every year as her garden expands.
We also have gone to the Friends Sale at the Fair Grounds in St. Paul. In fact, Liz is going to pick up some plants this weekend. She’s also working a shift for them, volunteering her time. A few years ago, we got our cherry tree, Cherry Pie, there and she’s the one that’s blooming this year. We also got our dogwood there and a bunch of deck plants. It’s fun and crazy busy. The prices are good, too.
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Awww, QM, glad to hear your gardening is going so well. Cool that your neighbors give you plants & that Liz is volunteering her time for the extras. It has rained here for 7 days & 7 nights. I had planted my seedlings in the box J made me & my toilet roll containers that I worked on while my back was giving me grief. Today we finally had sunshine & some of the seeds sprouted. My lettuce, basil, & hollyhocks are all starting to show. J is busy clearing the 6 dead trees we had to cut down a couple of weeks ago. Too wet to till the garden, but we have a dry spell to look forward to. D.D. & I plan on going out for our other vegetable plants on Mon. or Tues.. T had borrowed our rototiller & their garden is ready to plant. We both got some last years horse manure from our best friends. I cannot wait for fresh veggies & herbs! Tomorrow I hope to weed the existing flower beds while the ground is still damp enough to yank out the bad. More planting in store. Do you plant vegetables? Bring on summer! D
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QM, yeah for the Garden Lady. How great! Is her yard beautiful? I imagine it is after decades of care.
Trees can be especially expensive, can’t they? I’d love to get a hundred trees and plant them along our fenceline, but that would cost an arm and a leg. The Forest Service has a tree program where they give different kinds of native saplings. I know the former owner got a lot of some and planted them on one fence line.
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ybonesy, her yard is amazing. Her husband is really into it, too, and together, they really know how to make their whole home and land a garden.
Trees are REALLY expensive. We were talking about that yesterday after Liz got home from the Friends sale. We didn’t buy trees this year. But I think it was two years ago we bought the 3 dogwood to replace the buckthorn and the cherry tree, Cherry Pie. Cherry Pie looks fantastic this year.
I think Liz and I would like having a tree farm. She brings them home as saplings from different places (you know those offers for free trees, sometimes at MacDonald’s or Save the Earth?) and we’ll plant then in the garden until they get a certain height. Then we have to move them to other places.
BTW, Liz did work at the Friends Sale at the Fairgrounds yesterday and it was MOBBED. Over 1000 people I think she said. It was 1/2 price day and Liz made a killing. She came home with a hanging basket and tons of plants, all for half price. I think she only spent $25.62 for so many plants.
I can’t wait to plant them. Some examples:
Stonecrop Sedum
Sundrops
Creeping Thyme
Toad Lily
Red Hot Poker
Sea Holly
Spider Wort (one of my faves, big purple flower)
Phlox
Pin Cushion
Poppy (several kinds)
Mullein
Joe Pye Weed
Butterfly Weed
Cosmos
Trumpet Creeper
Mr. Stripey Tomato (after Mr. StripeyPants)
Kale
Lettuce
Sweet 100 Tomato
Broccoli
Sweet Basil (smell to die for)
Aren’t those plant names great? They are all pretty small so it will be great to see how big they get after we get them planted. Some will be deck plants. That’s probably it for this year. Many are perennials that come back each year. She also was conscious of attracting butterflies. One of the plants also attracts hummingbirds. Maybe someday we’ll be Garden Ladies. 8)
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