By Cheryl Ryan
Well – it’s been a minute. The official first day of summer is in a few weeks, and I’ve been busy doing all the Spring things. For the past two years, we’ve been traveling during Spring, so I’ve had some catch-up to do. And although it’s been busy, it’s been lovely being home and I’m feeling ready for Summer.
My 2024 Garden Report
Along with weeding, I’ve been planting and rearranging flower beds. My veggie garden looks pretty good, but my flower garden – not so much. I can’t seem to get it right, even with all that before Spring planning. My zinnias got munched by something that ate off the tops. My next round of seeds never came up, so I’ve just sprinkled a new mix of wildflowers. What the heck? Most of the green I see are the winter weeds, who are happy about the amateur gardener providing unseasonable water. I can only say, it’s a good thing that I don’t make a living as a farmer.
I’m being forced to learn about irrigation since no matter how often I ask my busy gardener, he never seems to get to it. I guess I could hire a professional but instead, I’ve decided to Youtube and make frequent trips to Ace Hardware as I work to figure it out. It doesn’t look pretty, but things are getting some water. Little by little, I’m learning some tricks about irrigation. I’m hoping I can keep things alive during the hot travel season.
Travel
Speaking of travel – it’s officially here. People without kids in school are already creating crowds throughout Europe, and families with kids who are just getting out of school are revving up their engines to create their own memories. We’re doing a Backroads trip to Oregon soon (our first) and taking a golf cruise around Ireland (also a first).
I’m not going to lie; I’m a little hesitant about the cruise situation in Ireland, so I will add to my ever-growing medical travel kit. If I keep this pace, it might need a suitcase of its own. I remember the days when I carried a bandage and some aspirin and felt extremely prepared.
On Creativity
Lately, I’ve become weary of listening to talking heads and opinions on podcasts. So I’ve been trying to listen to more music. During some walks, I’m just leaving my phone home and listening to the birds, and what’s left of the small trickling creeks.
But the other day, I set out to find something inspirational, and I found it in a Fresh Air podcast interview with Maggie Rogers. I’ve heard some of her music, but I didn’t know much about her. Yet listening to her lit me up. She is so filled with joy about creating her music. It just made me want to create something.
You probably don’t remember, but my New Year’s goal was to be creative this year. However, there has been a lot of other life happening and creativity has not been part of it. But this one interview has motivated me to get on with it. So here I am starting with writing this blog post and I’ve even gotten my sketchbook out.
I’m not a musical person, and if you ever heard my voice you would understand why. But I do love to find new great music. On a rainy winter day, I stumbled upon and went down the NPR tiny desk concert series rabbit hole. It’s so cool. Here are a few: Harry Styles , Jon Batiste , and Taylor Swift. And here is a list of 37 other top performances. Warning: it can be addicting, but in the name of discovery, it’s been very fun to see the acoustical version of some artists I knew very little to nothing about. For example, I had no idea how great Harry Styles’s voice is, and Lizzo – just wow!
I hope you get to travel, create, and spend time with people that light you up this Summer!