STARS GONE BLUE MY GEORGIA I STILL LOVE YOU

My reward for working in the garden and getting things planted.

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There were towels ready to come out of the dryer for folding and sheets in the washing machine ready for drying. I needed to search the internet for a dinner plan. I had planned on making a curry, but I needed guidance on what spices to use and how much. There were things that needed to be done, but here I was lounging in my hammock. I found that I could gently rock my hammock by reaching over my head and grabbing the hammock stand and giving it a shove with my fingers. I would gently rock my hammock side to side while my eyes drifted close. "Someone should make one of those timer contraptions like what's on those baby swings for swinging hammocks on hammock stands." I told this to Josephine because she was the only one around at the time when the thought entered my head. 

There was (is) a dime sized blister on the pad of my right thumb. I kept pressing my index finger to it, feeling the raw sore layer of skin now exposed because the blister had broken. It is proof of the work I did that morning. I watched a bright red cardinal jump into the honeysuckle that had started to grow along the top of the fence. I could see bits of red as he foraged around inside and wondered if maybe there was a nest tucked in there. I felt certain that if I got up and moved some of the vines away, I'd see a nest with three little eggs. I pulled on the hammock stand again, swinging my hammock. I stopped thinking about the things I should be doing and closed my eyes to the sun shining on my face.  Michael finished mowing the front yard. He cleaned off the mower and then dragged a chair over to where I laid in my hammock. 

We chatted about nothing. I told Michael my idea about the automatic hammock swinger. He told me about his idea for a privacy fence and new driveway. We talked about food for Michael's graduation party and what or if we should do anything about backyard lighting. I might hang some lights on the clothes line so no one runs into it. I tell Michael about the cardinal I saw in the honeysuckle. He tells me about how he mowed the front yard twice. We are quiet for a minute. That minute stretches to two, five, enough to feel like hours pass by as I swing myself in my hammock. Finally I tell him that it should be prescribed that I spend at least one hour out of every weekend in my hammock. Michael agrees whole heartedly. He already thinks that I don't sit still for long enough periods of time, buzzing around from chore to chore. There's always something that needs to be done. 

The clouds thicken and the wind shifts from light breeze to windy, bringing a chill with it. This is my cue. I peel myself out of my hammock, unhook it from the stand and fold it up as I carry it back inside to finish the things that need to be done. 

I'VE GOT POISON IVY AND A HAMMOCK STAND

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I don't really know how the poison ivy thing happened, but there's a very large patch of it on my upper right side, near my arm pit and a small patch on my left arm. Or it's shingles. I don't have time for a doctor's visit right now, so I've been coating it with hydrocortisone and taking Benadryl at night. This hasn't gotten me very far so I've made time to see the doctor today. Also, my last entry makes me sound depressed. Maybe I've been in a bit of a funk. I am not great, but I am OK. I've been doing a lot of just going through the motions these last few weeks and I find that writing the depressing stuff makes me feel better. A little sunshine wouldn't hurt either. 

My brother and sister-in-law were here this weekend and we spent Saturday doing all of the things. We went to breakfast at Randy's favorite place. We went to the City Market and looked at all the things. I got a coconut to drink. The Cabbage jumped around in the bounce house. Then we went to IKEA where we didn't look at all of the things, but just a lot of the things. I ended up with a new rug for the bedroom. Then we saw that they had a hammock stand for $70. Michael still feels really bad about me crashing to the earth in my hammock last year so he said "We are buying that stand!". Except they were completely sold out. I asked one employee if we could buy the display stand and she said "No!". I pouted. Then Katrina went and found a manager and the next thing we knew they were pulling the hammock off the stand and wheeling the hammock stand over to be re-priced so we could take it home. Because Katrina is a badass. The stand only cost us $50 because it was a display item! The take home lesson is if IKEA has it on display but not in stock, take Katrina with you.

Another thing we did this weekend was take all my pictures that I had taped to paper and hung around my work desk and turned them into two lovely collages. They're stuck to two different rectangular canvases which makes them very portable and easy to move. Not that I'm planning on moving again after the new space is finished, but you never know. I ordered some things to get going on an album to deal with all the pictures I have filling up drawers. Those things have arrived! So now I need to get moving on that project. See how productive I'm being? And I haven't even started the prednisone pack the doctor is going to prescribe for this poison ivy.

Today I rode the scooter and it's been ages since I've been able to do that. I didn't even need a jacket and I'm pretty sure I have a few bugs in my teeth from all the grinning.  

LOVE THURSDAY

Hammock time. #365

"Hammock time. #365"

I have been pining for a swing or hammock like sanctuary in the backyard for ages. A few weeks ago we were in IKEA buying some picture frames and bins for chicken things. We were on our way towards the checkout line when we passed a lovely hammock and hammock stand and I skidded to a halt. Michael looked at me and said "If you can look me in the eye and tell me you would hang out in that hammock today, we'll get it." It was pouring buckets outside. The backyard was a swamp. He knew I couldn't say that I would and he also knew that we couldn't really afford it. Even at IKEA prices. So I pulled out my best moody teenager and slumped my shoulders and dragged my feet as we continued on to checkout. Michael left me there pouting while he went to rescue Smaland from the Cabbage. 

On Saturday, we were in Home Depot getting things to build a fence around the garden and tomato cages. They have all the outdoor furniture right there when you walk in the door and I walked right straight over to all of it. Every thing was just too much of an expense, but then I saw some cloth hammocks on a shelf. They were only $20. I looked at Michael and asked "Do you think you could find a way to hang this between the clothes line pole and that tree in the back corner of the yard?" He replied with "Sure I can!" So we bought some rope and a couple of carabiners and on Sunday, Michael earned his knot tying merit badge. Later that day you could find me lounging in my new hammock. 

I took a magazine, a notebook and a small pillow out and stretched out with the intention of actually reading that magazine. Instead I was soon lulled into semi consciousnesses by the sound of the wind rustling the leaves and the gentle sway of the hammock. The giant oak trees where in the process of shedding their long straggling flowers. The yard is coated with them and they stick to Josephine like Velcro. Yet, it was still pretty to watch as the strands drifted down from the tall limbs of the massive trees. Nature's confetti. If I turned my head to one side, I could see the chickens pecking around in their run with Josephine lounging in the shade of their nesting box. Josephine has claimed one of two spots on this particular day. If she's not guarding the chickens from under the nesting box, she's chewing on a stick near my feet under the hammock. 

And for a moment, I don't think about getting up and folding clothes or washing the dishes from breakfast. I don't get antsy about being still for too long or that I'm being lazy and should get up and do some chore or another. I let myself surrender to the curves of the hammock. I watch the clouds swirl in the sky and I listen for noise. The only noise I hear though are the sounds of the occasionally passing car, the rustle of leaves in the breeze, the bounce of a ball as the neighborhood kids put together a basket ball game. I can hear the chickens and I can hear other birds. Mostly I listen to the stillness. After about five minutes  of being in the hammock, I am completely at peace and I think, or maybe even say out loud, "this is the best thing."

I'm getting Michael new tires for his bicycle for Father's Day. It's something we've been talking about for some time now. The other day he asked me what I wanted for Mother's Day, which I still feel odd about. I said "I got a hammock." and really, I'm good with that. Michael said that I can't retro fit a gift. Maybe I should tell him that I just want time to be in the hammock. Time can be a gift. Now I'm singing "Time in a Bottle", but changing the lyrics to "time in a hammock". It's true that there really never seems to be enough time to do the things I want to do. Time in my own little hammock sanctuary though, would probably make a really good gift. In fact it might even be the kind of gift we could all benefit from. 

Here's to time spent in your own kind of hammock on this lovely Love Thursday.