When I photographed these foxtails at Banks Lake I wanted to catch the play of light on the long hairs leading to the seed-heads. I thought it was pretty. The foxtail is native to Asia and was accidentally introduced in the United States in the 1920's. Although it is pretty, it is seen as a contaminant, taking over roadsides, and previously worked soil. It is an opportunist, setting seeds into vacant lots and abandoned fields. You'll see them poking up through abandoned tillers and cultivators left to rust under the sun. I remember seeing horses grazing, pulling them up, and grinding them in their mouths. That was such a satisfying sound.
Returning from vacation, I found myself totally disinclined to re-enter my life as I usually live it. Yes, I had a house to clean (what man is truly going to commit to this when his wife is gone two weeks?); a yard to tidy, water and mow (do men ever do this without a 'to do' list posted on the fridge?), and an e-mail from the Metro Parks garden coordinator to level and clean out pathways along all plots, not excluding mine.
But, one thing about vacation - it reorients the soul to what it most loves, and says 'linger awhile'...even when you return home. I cleaned my patio, set the sprinklers, and read an old book, "Finding Home", a collection of nature writing published by Orion magazine.
I discovered that I do not revere nature in the ways of some of the writers, who sigh that trees have sentient spirits that are capable of feeling states much like our own, and therefore require a dialogue of respect before being chopped down. My goodness, what a change from the popular Discovery Channel's "Swamp Loggers", a program featuring the hard work of pulling trees out of the muck and grit of a swamp. Extraction, and what remains isn't pretty. The whole thrust of how we should care for the environment is lost in the drama of big machinery and production deadlines.
I'm not overly enthusiastic about my own garden production this summer. The warm weather is just starting to promote a little growth - not much more than spinach, onions, chard, kale, peas, turnips, potatoes, and lettuce are available.
I've been cookin': East Indian Sambars, Rasams and curried salads made with yogurt.
This yogurt salad was made with cilantro and avocado, and is a cooling accompaniment to a hot spicy main course. I cannot get enough!When packing for that last camping trip, I brought along my own little cook station so I could indulge in my addictions:
The cooler held two quarts of home-made yogurt, red and green chilies, and two frozen dinners. The lunchbox held burrito shells, my oil and spices, several packages of east-Indian prepared meals ...and a box of Bran Buds and powdered milk for a bedtime snack. I just love life being this simple.Not so good for George this week. His blog, Baha'i Views, was hacked, leaving on the screen an image of menace and a little icon of an idiot laughing at his little prank. While George tried to figure out how to restore the LunarPages site, I pondered the definition of 'hacker': I guess it refers to someone who is without gainful employment, like a slacker, who, if he had it, has failed to internalize the integrity behind hard work. Come to think of it, that is exactly what was trashed - all of George's hard work, his exuberant memories, his joyful recapturing of what was dear to him. ( Baha'i Views has been restored.)
