I can’t believe it’s almost…
Spring!
… 6:30 and it’s still light out.
… Memorial Day.
I’m SOOO over the heat!
Can you believe…
…School starts soon.
… it’s only 4:30 and it’s already dark.
…It’s almost the holidays.
I’m SOOO over the cold!
I can’t believe it’s almost…
Spring!
If I had a nickel for every time, every person, every year that I heard those words, spoke those words – well I would NOT be rich. Thanks to “inflation” (*cough* corporate greed/price gouging *cough*), my nickels are only worth mere pennies right now. But I digress…
What’s interesting to me, is the cyclical habitual patterns we ALL have as each season starts and ends – round and round we go, every year, like clockwork. We all have familiar movies, recipes, adventures ALL earmarked for certain times of the year – I’m already salivating over the smells of corned beef and cabbage that’s brining away in the crockpot. The annual urge to go lighter, brighter, shorter has begun. Highlights, fun colors, shorter cuts, brighter clothes – somehow, someway we’re all forcing spring to well – SPRING.
When I was younger, I never understood the Zen like feeling people found in gardening. Yard work sucks, btw! It’s on my bucket list to never own a lawn mower. Or a snow shovel! Yes, I live in Colorado, and yes, I understand that not owning a snow shovel is a bit of a feat. But hey, I’m up for the challenge. Thank you (truly) for the HOA. I hope they pay their workers a living wage because they deserve it!
I would consider altering my bucket list for a riding lawnmower – you know the kind that you can drive around while sipping a cold beer on a hot summer day. Then again, if I had the kind of land, one that you need a riding mower for, I’d also have snakes. And the idea of running over one of those f*ers just brings up all the phobic, irrational fears of IT (or IT’s friends) coming back for revenge. So no, I’m not a fan of yard work and my bucket list will likely remain as is.
But one spring, not so long ago, I got a wild hair and decided that I needed a green thumb. After killing most of the plants I owned, I wasn’t entirely sure it was possible. But I was determined so I started by telling myself I had a green thumb instead of a brown one. Ok, maybe a light green one, but fake it till you make it! Do you ever get those weird promptings to do something new? Because you feel like you must, like you’re supposed to, even though it’s so completely out of character for you? Sometimes you just gotta go down the rabbit hole… even if it’s just growing a couple of plants.
Except for one beautiful African Violet that my friend had gifted me when I had decided to pack up my life and move to Tanzania (another tale, another time), I had been determined that she would survive and thanks to a self-watering pot, I had managed not to send this girl to the grave like the others. So, after a night out with my Bff and a big pile of breakfasty goodness the next morning, we ventured to the local nursery where I picked out a lonely girl who hopefully wouldn’t mind coming home with someone who had a self-declared brown thumb. I was hopeful, but not optimistic, that my “string of pearls” would make it too (two). Dead man walking? Possibly.
It wasn’t long after that my green thumb wishes began to take root (Another Pun, I know and I’m sorry). I realized when you put your fears down and poured your heart into something, the Universe rushes in for the assist. Within a matter of months, I had been gifted new plants and plenty of seeds to start growing really GREEN, the fun kinda green. Again, I’m here in Colorado so I’m sure you can guess the kind of green I’m talking about. I was going to give it a whirl. I had seeds, I had time and even though I had no idea what I was doing, again I was determined. I am a learning addict, so I spent the summer doing just that.
In another one of those kismet moments, where I felt like I was doing exactly what I should be, a client of mine offered to trade highlights for seeds. It was like the heavens opened up and rained down gold, green gold. Thanks to her and our trade, I got my hands on a high CBD strain of seeds that I consider to be worth more than their weight in gold. By the end of that summer, I had the tents, the lights – it was a learning curve for sure and I serial killed a few more ladies but the few house plants I had were thriving. Light Green had been realized.
Growing for myself, wasn’t just a hobby anymore, wasn’t just something I would try my hand at. I believe in the power of holistic medicine, and I had been a proponent for the legalization of MJ since before I even smoked it. If I could make a go of this, I might just be able to grow my own. 6 years, and more than a few strains later I’ve learned to grow, propagate, cross strains… It’s a labor of love and a hobby that has taken on legs of its own. I still only grow for myself, but I’ve learned to make salves, edibles, and tinctures. My medicine.
Today, when I look around my home, I realize how much I’ve grown (Oh come on, you had to have seen that coming). It’s been slow and incremental, but I can’t help but be proud. The new babies are almost ready to start brightening up the patio… almost. It’s Spring in Colorado and mother nature loves to give all of her different personalities free reign at this time, sometimes on the same day, especially if you left the house in flipflops. And even though I’ve already gone lighter, shorter, brighter, I’ll try to be patient just a little while longer and enjoy one last snowstorm or two.
So here we are again…
I can’t believe it’s almost Spring!
