Emily Dickinson said, “‘hope’ is the thing with feathers – that perches in the soul -…”. What then is grief?
“Grief” is the thing of stone
That perches in the soul –
And presses hard without a sound –
And never stops – at all – (BB)
Volker died 28 years ago. Incredible. Can it really be? Time is such a peculiar thing.
This is one day of the year I “take off” — I take off from work, from socialization. I spend it mostly alone with my dog. Once again this year I headed to Goderich, to the water, to a leash-free dog park.
I think what I like most about my day off is that both grief and hope reside without conflict in my soul.
Not all the geraniums that I potted are growing, however, those that survived are coming along nicely!
I’d set them out on my balcony yesterday when the temperature went to 20+ degrees, but as there is possible freezing for the next couple of nights, they are back inside again.
I do love geraniums, their bright colours, the ease of care.
Last fall I pulled all of my geraniums and the geraniums at First Mennonite out of the soil, shook the dirt off the roots put the whole plant into paper yard waste bags. I then put them into cool, dark storage for the winter.
Out of its winter sleeping bag.
I think they would have been happier if I had taken them out sooner, but once again I left the task to the end of March. I always have a few plants that don’t survive, and this year I learn an important lesson — don’t try to put too many into one bag! I did that with the church’s geraniums, and most of them died and got moldy.
A moldy mess. Only the top layer of plants survived.
I sort through the dried leaves and stems to find the ones with some green or evidence of life. I take off much of the dead stuff (though sometimes what looks dead isn’t actually, so I wait and see with some of it). Then I line the pot with brown paper towel to prevent the soil from coming out of the drainage holes and fill the pot with soil.
Plants and pots
My spare bedroom is a nice bright locations so it becomes my greenhouse.
Potted plants on a vinyl table cloth in front of the window the spare room.
I have seven of my own geraniums this year, including a trailing plant — first time I’ve had one survive the winter, and twelve from the church.
