Grandpa

You know the people in your life that you love being around? The ones that make you feel comforted, loved, accepted, validated, and important all at the same time? The ones who listen attentively when you talk with them, who talk with you and not at you? Instinctively, you know you can trust and rely on them if needed? To add a cherry on top, they make you laugh when you are sad? 

My grandpa was/is one of those people in my life. He passed away last Thursday after battling cancer for a long time.  There is a hole in my heart now that he is gone, but when I think about him, that hole is instantly filled with love, gratitude, and happy memories of him. I felt his presence in his home after he died, I felt his presence at his funeral, and I can still feel his love from beyond the grave.  

One of my most recent memories of Grandpa involved Ella. Grandpa was a very tall man, and his hands were gargantuan. Whenever a new grandchild or great-grandchild was born, he'd always put his thumb next to their forearm. Inevitably, his thumb would be the same size or longer than the baby's forearm. We took Ella to see him and Grandma when she was one month old. In keeping with tradition, he compared her arm to his thumb, as you'll see in the pictures below:

 

Several people have mentioned Ella's doll-like features to me. I think she looks especially doll-like in the first picture, a petite baby in the lap of her very tall, large-framed great-grandfather. The second picture clearly shows his long thumb, which trumps Ella's forearm in length, and is almost the same width. (Thankfully, she has gotten a lot bigger since these photos were taken).

Every time I look at these pictures, I smile and tear up at the same time. I am blessed to have had my wonderful grandpa in my life for more than three decades. Thankfully, I will have many fond memories of him to think about until the future day when I'll see him again.

Cucumber Carcass Graveyard

Last year, D and I created our very first raised box gardens. He built the boxes and filled them with rich soil (you know, the special kind for box gardens that is literally full of little golden specs of vermiculite that sparkle in the sunlight) while I tried my hand at sprouting plants from seeds. We ended up growing onions, broccoli, three different types of tomatoes, cucumbers, kale, arugula, spinach, strawberries, honeydew melons, watermelons, bell peppers, banana peppers, jalapenos, green beans and three types of pumpkins. About half of these plants were grown from seed, and some were purchased as plants at the store. It was an exciting endeavor for both of us as first-time box gardeners.

I vaguely remember hearing an expert recommend that first time gardeners should only grow a few things. Only a few things? Ha! Why only grow onions, peppers and tomatoes? Go big or go home, I said, even though my box gardens were already at home. Go big AT home, I guess.

We didn't take into account one little detail, which was still extremely small at the time, but it progressively got larger while the plants in our garden grew. Ella. I was pregnant and due to deliver my baby around the end of August or the first part of September. Harvest season.

The plants in our garden LOVED that golden soil. A lot. Especially the cucumbers. They gobbled up those nutrients, became monster plants, took over the garden box they were in and extended beyond it. I couldn't keep up with all the cucumbers that were being churned out of my little box garden. We gathered some up, but soon began piling them up next to the garden box, where they were forgotten when Ella was born.

Honestly, after the baby came the entire garden was almost completely forgotten and ignored (except for the pumpkin patch, which produced prodigious amounts of squash). Then winter came, Ella did not sleep for long periods at night for several months, and we traveled for work. We occasionally glanced at our treasured garden, but did not have the energy to do anything more.

Yesterday I started cleaning up the garden boxes, and that is when I discovered shriveled cucumber carcasses strewn all over the garden boxes and the bark surrounding them. Poor cucumbers. So much goodness gone to waste last year. The happy news is: some of our plants are still alive! The onions, strawberries and kale are still going strong.

This year we will not put vine-y plants in our box gardens. Those will be relegated to a spot along the fence where they can climb and expand without railroading other plants along the way. Also, we will only have one cucumber plant, not four or five. It's going to be a good gardening year. I can feel it. Bring on the plants!