Celebrating the 4th of July

and my passed mother's birthday. My mother was born on July 4, 1914. I remember as a child making and decorating her birthday cake with red, white and blue. 

My mother is the second from the right.
The others are her sisters:
Donna (left), Arlene, Eva and
Martha to my mom's left.

Her brother, and my Uncle Ervy, if around, was always my staunch cheerleader in the effort.

Said uncle is on the right
with his brothers Harley (far left)
and P.C. in the middle.

Today I made no birthday cake, rather we went to the Farmers Market in Sebastopol where we stocked up on fresh food for the week. All the wonderful vendors at this particular market offer the best options. Since I do not have a garden yet, I am so grateful these farmers grow such fabulous organic, nutrient dense food: cauliflower, chard, Early Girl tomatoes, eggplant, fennel, Frida spicy mix delicious addition to salads, lettuce, Romano beans and zucchini.

Blenheim apricots, figs and plums

June Pride peaches

String of Pearls
for my all time favorite
hanging apparatus.
Now to find the "perfect" window
in which to display this
fun plant where it will thrive.

And then several times a day I am collecting Santa Rosa plums that are dropping ripe from our tree. These plums are one of my all time very favorite plums. They make great cobbler, jam, and are delicious canned to enjoy during the Winter months when even here fresh fruit is hard to come by.

I am just ecstatic to now have 
a mature Santa Rosa plum tree
in my backyard.

Ah to be alive

     on a mid-September morn

fording a stream

barefoot, pants rolled up 

holding boots, pack on,

sunshine, ice in the shallows,

northern rockies

Rustle and shimmer of icy creek waters

stones turn underfoot, small and hard on toes

cold nose dripping

  singing inside

creek music, heart music,

smell of sun on gravel.

I  pledge allegiance.

I pledge allegiance to the soil

of Turtle Island

one ecosystem

in diversity

under the sun --

With joyful interpenetration for all.

GARY SNYDER

To honor our democracy on this Fourth of July let us each and every one of us have a celebratory belly

 ha