Friday, April 4, 2014

Secret Subject Swap: April Edition



This is my second time participating in the Secret Subject Swap with Baking in a Tornado. This month 14 different bloggers decided to particpate. We each submit writing prompts that are then swapped and interpreted in our own individual styles then we post them all on the same day at the same time for everyone to enjoy.

My subject was submitted by Dino Hero Mommy.

"As spring approaches what are you impatiently waiting to do? Why?"

...soil caked under my nails and between my toes

...sweat on my brow and soaking through my shirt at the small of my back

...green fingers and broken nails from pulling weeds by hand

...the swaying of tiny seedlings in the summer breeze

...parfum de plant de tomate (tomato plant perfume)

...the first blooms followed by the first pods and fruits

...a pot of green beans on the stove grown from seed to maturity

...squash grilled to perfection

...every meal graced by my own work

Thinking of Spring (which is already arriving here in Climax) brings on images of gardening, and I have been impatiently waiting to get all that started as the throes of winter have clung harder than usual this year in the South. Growing up, I never would have pegged myself to be a gardener, but for 4 years now, it has been the best therapy. Standing between the rows covered in green stains and dirt letting the first ripened cherry tomato of the season burst in my mouth is better than any pill I could ever take.

Perhaps it’s the work involved, the focus on the tasks at hand that keep your mind free from everything else, or maybe it’s the actual enjoyment of the spoils of your labor that does it. Maybe it’s all of the above. No matter what does it, springtime is planting time. It’s time to get dirty, to work my hands into the soil turning it by hand, to water and weed, to love every moment in the sun surrounded by bees and earthy aromas with weeds and dirt clumps stuck in my hair.

Springtime means working for myself and enjoying the fruits of that work rather than working for someone else. Every moment spent laboring in the South Georgia humidity provides my little family with another black eyed pea, another tomato, another green bean or squash. Every moment sustains us, nourishes us. No one reaps the bounty of my work but me and it feels phenomenal. I’m not getting paid by the hour to turn earth and pull weeds just to give the harvest over to a boss or an owner or a CEO or another asshat investor while I barely bring home a handful of beans for myself. It is all mine unless I choose to give it. There are no words to describe the deliciousness that brings to my life.

As Chuck Palahniuk eloquently wrote in Fight Club, “ I see all this potential, and I see it squandered. God damn it, an entire generation pumping gas, waiting tables – slaves with white collars. Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy shit we don't need. We're the middle children of history, man. No purpose or place. We have no Great War. No Great Depression. Our great war is a spiritual war. Our great depression is our lives. We've all been raised on television to believe that one day we'd all be millionaires, and movie gods, and rock stars, but we won't. And we're slowly learning that fact. And we're very, very pissed off.”

The work I put into my land changes that. It gives me purpose and a desire to be able to truly take care of myself without reliance on a job I hate and shit I don’t really need.

Springtime is revolution time.


Here is the rest of the linkups for this month: 


http://www.BakingInATornado.com                          Baking In A Tornado
http://themomisodes.com                                       The Momisodes
http://stacysewsandschools.blogspot.com/              Stacy Sews and Schools
http://followmehome.shellybean.com                        Follow me home . . .
http://www.someoneelsesgenius.com                        Someone Else’s Genius
http://thethreegerbers.blogspot.ch/                      Confessions of a part-time working mom
http://www.dribblesngrits.com                                Dribbles and Grits
http://www.impoverishedvegan.com                        Impoverished Vegan
http://spatulasonparade.blogspot.com                      Spatulas on Parade
http://dinoheromommy.com/                                   Dinosaur Superhero Mommy
http://morethancheeseandbeer.blogspot.com               More Than Cheese and Beer
http://www.eviljoyspeaks.wordpress.com                    Evil Joy Speaks
http://www.JuiceboxConfession.com                          Juicebox Confession

16 comments:

  1. YAY!!! I SO LOVE the way you wrote this. So poetic and entrancing, love it. I wish I owned instead of rented then we could plant some veggies and herbs. It must be beautiful to be able to eat what you created! Love the quote...it's gearing me up for spring!

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    1. You could still do some veggies and herbs in pots if you have a small porch. There are articles all over the net about growing in pots. I, of course, definitely recommend it if you have the time! Thanks for reading!

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  2. LOVE! And it is because I feel the same way....I'm yearning for dirt, and earthy smells. I'm feeling the need to grow something beautiful!

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  3. Although I don't grow vegetables I do agree that there is something healing about gardening, even if it's not food but the beauty of surroundings that you've created and nurtured.

    I have a neighbor who grows vegetables and the first time I tried really fresh veggies I was shocked at the difference in flavor. I hope this year's crop brings you all you're looking for and more.

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    1. It's a learning process. I still can't get corn to grow even supplementing the soil with nitrogen. I like being able to control what goes on the plants, too, even though I'm not always a stickler for buying organic. It does change the flavor to grow your own, but I might be biased since it's so much more tasty after you put all the work into it yourself.

      I have some day lilies and a few trees and bushes that I've grown, too, but with my ducks, I have to be careful. They're pretty hard on anything in the yard between the trampling and rooting for bugs.

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  4. I want, so badly, to grow something. I can't actually plant anything because I'm a renter, but I thought about trying to grow flowers in pots. I tried last year and just got weeds. I'm not very good at this. I'd LOVE to grow my own tomatoes though.

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    1. You can totally do tomatoes in a pot. There are about 60 varieties of vegetables that you can do in a pot if you're a renter or you could even do a raised garden bed if you're not planning to move anytime soon. You can build one for free pretty easily if you can find some wooden pallets.

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  5. i feel like we would totally be friends in real life if we ever met. fight club is on my top 5 favorite movies and i am super eager to start a garden! i have already started my basil and mint growing in tiny pots. this was a great blog post!

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    1. I also love top 5 lists. We could totally be friends.

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  6. I am terrible with plants. I am who plants go to when they want to die... I am the Dr. Death of the plant world. Being so, I greatly admire anyone with a green thumb. My grandmother used to grow the most beautiful flowers. SIGH.. I have to buy mine in bunches at the store. LOL

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  7. For the record, I hate gardening, but I love the idea of gardening. Such a great quote, too. Well done!

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  8. Very poetic! I admire how people dedicate their blood, sweat and tears for their garden, and I enjoy the flowers, bushes, veggies and fruit trees - that other people plant!

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  9. I wish I could get into gardening. Some day when I own a house, I may attempt it yet again. I have the black thumb of death and an annual houseplant massacre. But I do like to have some Basil growing to cook with, and cat nip is easy to grow (smells good too).

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    1. If I based my ability on what I can grow in the house, I'd feel exactly like you. I tried the first few years to start seedlings inside a few weeks before the last frost, but it never worked. I have to actually sew the seeds right in the ground and let the earth work its magic. I'm just the facilitator.

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  10. I love your writing. I get what you're saying about gardening. Reading your words makes Spring feel closer. (We're still dealing with the snow). I'm a girl with a brown thumb who always gives gardening the old' college try. You make me think I'll keep at it. I feel that same passion when I sew.
    Fight Club quote=Yes!

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    1. Thank you for the compliment. Maybe I'll trade you my gardening tips if you can teach me how to sew!

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