I said I’d post a finished photo of my bug mosaic a million years ago and that is finally (almost) happening.
It’s still not done yet but I’ve made progress on it. I like it and I want to do a larger piece involving a little more planning. Because I can’t do anything very physical right now, the mosaics might be my speed over the next couple of weeks while I fully recover.
Right now I am just focusing on getting the bugs out of my neck. I’ve spent the last four days now in quite a bit of pain. The chiropractor I’ve been seeing is threatening me with words like ‘herniated’ and ‘surgery’ but I think he’s just being extreme. Why do chiropractors like to scare you with surgery? My last, perfect, wonderful chiropractor (Suzanne Hanson) in SF would never use the “s” word. It’s mean and almost always pointless. That’s why I’m seeing a chiropractor in the first place, because I know surgery is extreme and almost always avoidable.
I’m getting better pretty quickly now so I think It was just a strain. I’ve tried to be as patience as I could be, and just wait for the healing to happen. I’ve been reclining in my beloved studio chair, with lots of books and music surrounding me. I haven’t had much energy to look or read until today, but I’m definitely on the mend now. I spent the afternoon looking through the Multnomah library website, looking for movies to put on hold and picked up at my Sellwood branch. I added new bills to my bank account, and I took a look around the garden.
Don’t tell Tom but I braved our big, heavy garage door so I could look at my seedlings. They haven’t been doing much so I was very excited to see so many of them sprouting. The Borage is winning but the beets, peas, and early harvest broccoli are close behind. Outside some of the lettuce, arugula and spinach are starting to sprout, and happily the brussels, kale, and chard have survived.
It feels good that the garden is running without my micro managing it. I think it is time for me to try and add some more people and things into my life. I have been in this house all alone for too long now. I want to experience this new, exciting place I live in. I have three Saturday classes scheduled in April. One is a paper vessels class at Oregon College or Art and Craft. The other two are garden classes at Portland Nursery. I’ve found a couple of different non profit organizations for urban farming and I want to send emails out as soon as I can work outside again. One of the gardens has beehives. I’m getting very stir crazy and a little lonely, being here all the time. I’m also going to start going in to Flickerbox norte as soon as I have the strength to sit up for 8 hours at a time. Right now I’m pushing my luck with anything more than 2 hours.
I feel pretty grateful for my quick recovery and I want to apologize to my body for the lack of proper exercise I’ve given it. I’ve gotten squishy and lazy. It’s time to fix that. This body deserves better than I’ve given it in the last 6 months.
I got a book about Pacific Northwest Bugs and I’m excited about photographing and identifying my new local friends. There are mysterious flat beetles in our house that may be box elder bugs, but I’m not sure. It’s exciting to have a garden and have much more bugs around me. I have a very different relationship with them now than the last time I was in an environment with lots of different bugs. I am still at war with slugs. Though I’d like to change my opinion of them, maybe develop some sort of mutually beneficial relationship with them. Do you think that’s possible?
One of the many highlights of our housewarming party was meeting my friend’s brother Scott. He brought over some vegetable starts in a very cute basket as well as a super tasty bottle of zin. I haven’t been able to do any digging so I’ve got them sitting in a dish so they stay fresh. I’ve got to get better, they need to get planted!
