This Month (A Tumultuous Time)

Spring blossoms even in the sidewalk cracks

It’s spring. Granted, it’s been spring for the past month (with intermittent hard freezes and snow storms), but it feels and looks like it for real: the grass is vibrant, the daffodils have come and gone, the redbuds are glowing with purple buds, and random lightning/hail storms sweep through so quickly that the hail doesn’t have time to melt before the sun comes out again. 

The last few weeks haven’t just been crazy weather-wise— it’s been a personally rather tumultuous time. I’ve retreated deep into myself, had a couple breakdowns, forced myself to work through the motions of day to day life, resisted the urge to “vaguebook” a million times, ranted and raved at my friends, and everything in between. It hasn’t been fun, and it’s a story too long and too interpersonal to get into here. Suffice it to say that I have a great respect for parents of teens. 

These past few weeks have made me more grateful than ever for my friends who support and love me, especially my husband, Zachary, who has shown exceptional strength of character in dealing with difficult circumstances. 

In other news, I took a gamble and planted some cool-season crops a few weeks ago— peas, kale, carrots, and spinach— and even after a few hard frosts, all but the spinach have sprouted! Growing cool crops in St. Louis is tricky since we usually make a blinding-fast transition from winter to summer, so I’m grateful for the long spring that is preventing the seedlings from freezing to death or dying of heat stroke. My perennial crops— asparagus, chives, and herbs— have popped up as well. Seeing these nice edibles that have sprouted without my help shows me why permaculture gardeners emphasize perennials. They’re so much easier to grow! 

The forest floor near my house

On another note, I’m proud to announce that I finished draft three of my PCT memoir. I called it “The Hack n’ Slash Edition,” and I managed to shave off another 13,000 words from Draft 2, putting it within striking distance of my word-count goal (75,000). In case you’re wondering, it’s going to be at least another draft before I let any of my close writer-advice friends look at it. I always go through an insane amount of drafts, and this project is still on the backburners, so I’m not afraid to take it slow.

Redbud tree

In the meantime, my life is filled with lots of paper-editing, walks through the budding woods, hanging out with family and friends, playing piano, and watching the anime Naruto. After the tumult, I feel like my life is starting to normalize again, and that’s a wonderful feeling.

~Lisa