Sorry about my frequent rants. It’s not that I’m complaining about my fortunate situation, which could have gone so much worse in the end. It’s just my one outlet for expressing frustration with ignorance, and eagerness to move forward. I can’t even take it out on the garden this year!
I look out past the mourning doves coupling, and see spring happening without me. Besides the tenants making it a gauntlet, this is the season we’re leaving the garden to its own devices, while we prepare to go find our own. Which is a good thing, but also vexing for someone who lives to get outdoors and mess around with plants and animals. I feel like I’m caged at a zoo.
As for the deranged world at large, I know we take that with us and can’t escape it. Maybe for now, the best we can do is create an illusion of being screened and hedged from it, and perhaps finding others who feel the same. I’ve lived long enough to realize there’s nowhere perfect in the world, as long as we humans are there. All we can do is eliminate as many negative factors as we can control in our immediate environment, and creatively work with or around the rest.
It comes down to the attitudes we bring with us. We can give ourselves a concussion banging our heads against brick walls, against circumstances out of our control, or we can make the most of the brains and limitations we have to work with.
There are powerful forces at work conspiring to make life hell for most Americans, no matter how hard we try to overcome them. The old rules don’t seem to apply anymore. For us older poor people, the best we can do is find a relatively affordable, obscure place to survive, and be supportive of others in similar predicaments.
Or, when life gives you brick walls, grow ivy? It’s amazing how such a harmless-seeming (exotic invasive) plant can grip and infiltrate seemingly impregnable human walls. I think there’s a metaphor somewhere in there, but I leave it to you to interpret. 😉
Meanwhile, somewhere out there, these have been spotted by locals—
Cardamine/Cut-leaved Toothwort, and three Hepatica:
I know one day soon, this will be ours to enjoy and share.