Posted in Sunday Report

Patience

Posted on by Jo Mayne Casey

Hi, kids. I missed you a little over the last couple of weeks, but it’s that time of year when I’m All Plants All the Time which makes me a little boring. I’ve been stalking the weather forecasts, trying to hurry up the transition from cool and windy to warm and still; obviously, I have failed. My plant date has shifted from 4/19 (dreaming) to 4/26 (hopeful) to a sure date of 5/3 — this Wednesday! We’ve had sunshine and the ground isn’t all that cold, but those breezes have been chilly.

It’s all okay in the Peace/Bird garden, though, where the perennial natives abide.

I can’t wait to get digging and planting. My vegetable plants are begging to go in the ground and be a Real Garden. I have to admit that I enjoy having such Green on the back porch and confess that I’m still not sure Exactly where to plant everything. I’m super-proud that my indoor seed-starting has yielded 8 watermelon (sugar babies), 8 canteloup, 3 zucchini, and 3 yellow squash, but they are teenagers now and need to be Outside.

Some wise person told me that the secret to being patient is to do something else in the meantime, so I’ve been filling time by planning away for the upcoming Double Holiday on 5/6: the Coronation of King Charles III and the 149th running of the Kentucky Derby. I’m going to make the Coronation Quiche, a curious recipe that includes “broad beans” and only two eggs; I’m going to use lima beans and four eggs, cut back on the milk and see how it goes. Since I’ll have to be up by 3:30 a.m. or so to watch the ceremony, I’ll make the quiche the night before. The Royals should be out on the balcony by 8 a.m. or thereabouts and that’s a good time for a celebratory mimosa breakfast, don’t you think?

My Derby Day menu is more simple: pimento (pronounced pumentuh in our neck of the woods) cheese sandwiches, salad, and mint juleps. I’m in a quandary about the juleps, though. I usually buy good bourbon for the Derby, Woodford Reserve or my favorite Wild Turkey Kentucky Spirit, but it is a sin to mix the good stuff—it should only be sipped. I guess maybe a festive julep or two followed by sipping the night away, celebrating a Big Win…yes!…would be acceptable.

For All Things Coronation, here’s a good curation of info: https://theroyalrundown.substack.com/

To study up on the Kentucky Derby, the best site is this: https://www.kentuckyderby.com/horses

I will be in touch frequently this week, making up for missing the last couple. The Edible Garden Will be planted and I’m sure you will want to see how it turns out. Drop back by to get my Derby Picks (and those of my family)! And don’t forget Cinco de Mayo! It’s a trifecta of liver abuse…

Peace

Posted in Sunday Report

Roll Away the Stone

Posted on by Jo Mayne Casey

We had a little Egg Hunt yesterday with the Jr Family. Casey and Michael warned that these eggs (filled with a quarters and occasional smarties) would be a level up from the past hunts, and sure enough, there’s one out there we still can’t find! It will show up at the most unlikely time, experience tells me — maybe at next year’s Hunt!

It’s a Beautiful Morning, perfect for a Sunrise Service, so I dragged myself up and out into the garden to contemplate. In my 25 years playing the organ at the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, I heard many an Easter sermon, usually 2-3 times. The choirs were jubilant, the congregation all gussied up in their Sunday finest, and the Music was inspired, if I do say so myself. But it was often at the end of that long haul of service, that I could stop and think, and let it all sink in. Religious scholars do their best to “explain” resurrection, but it’s all a mystery to me. In my wee brain, the metaphor of Spring, when the dormant earth returns to life, when the brown and gray gives way to green and blue and the birds sing loud and long at dawn that inspires Hope, strengthening my Faith that we are Growing Every Season, transformed and reborn Every Day. Mercy! Such Grace!

It’s just an every-day song, but “Beauty in the River” (by Ozark Mountain Daredevils) gives a hint of Easter in the message of its chorus:

We must all stand in the water
We must find it when we roam
It don’t matter what is said
We can wake up from the dead
And roll away the stone
We can roll away the stone!

Songwriters: John Dillon
Beauty in the River lyrics © Irving Music, Inc

The song starts with the sound of a saw sawing wood to count the rhythm, something that has always intrigued me… Give it a Listen…

Have a great week!

Peace

Posted in Spring at Sonnystone

Sunday Report

Posted on by Jo Mayne Casey

Edit: Spoiler Alert: I said (below) that the Irish Dancers were competing in the Nationals, but I should have said they are competing in the World Championships. (the Nationals are in Nashville in July and we will be there). Eliza is dancing today and Emma dancing Tuesday. Sending Beams of Love, no matter what the level of competition.

Happy Palm Sunday to those of you who celebrate. I remember the marathon performance schedule of Holy Week from my days as a church organist and my best wishes go to all church musicians at this busy time. The Good Friday hymns in the dirge-like minor keys give way on Easter morning to songs of Victory and Pageantry in bright, major tones. Sometimes I miss it.

Last year I was deeply involved with my visit to London and I sure wish I had something similar to distract me. I’m feeling so restless, like I always do at the beginning of the Spring season, waiting for the lows to finally stay above 40, longing for the sunny days and warmer highs. I stand at the window and watch the birds going about their business, observe the magnolia buds flowering, and follow the antics of a scrappy grey squirrel who we’ve named “Stumpy” because his tail is cut off to about 6 inches. I want to get out and join the party.

We have another month or so left of this transition from winter to spring, aka storm/big wind/tornado season in these parts. We weathered 60mph gusts yesterday, but are grateful there were no tornadoes in our neck of the woods.

In the meantime, I’m raising up 3 better boys and 6 california wonders that we bought at Hillside gardens last week. I’ve already potted up the tomatoes and will no doubt pot up the peppers before we can set them out in mid-May.

My Irish Dance girls are competing in the North American competition, called “Nationals”, this week up in Montreal, Canada. I know they will do well, but very excited to see just how well they do.

Emma
Eliza

I broke a tooth last week and my dentist was out of town. It doesn’t really hurt, but I’m sticking with soft food and such… I foresee a spell of dentist visits in my future, but I can’t get in to see him this week, either, because it’s Colonoscopy Week here at the Acres. Mine is scheduled for Tuesday, Casey’s for Thursday, so the whole clear liquids and diet restrictions thing works out fine. So much fun…

Have a Holy Week!

Peace

Posted in Sunday Report, The Gardens of Sonnystone...

Evening Edition

Posted on by Jo Mayne Casey

We’ve been out in the Peace/Bird Garden all day, moving around purple coneflower, autumn sedum, bee balm, a few surviving rudbeckia, and discovering forgotten gladiolus bulbs scattered throughout. I had already moved a lot of bricks to make the peace sign a double circle and I’ve been imagining where I wanted to move the echinacea for a while now. The day was perfect and we got a lot done.

Later this week, after a few cold mornings get past us, I’ll add in the perennials that I overwintered: garden phlox, delphinium, and liatris.

I’m feeling the Springtime vibe and lovin’ it, so excited to visit Hillside Gardens for tomatoes and peppers and hit up Rural King for seeds and who-knows-what! Hope you’re feeling Spring-y where you are.

Peace

Posted in Sunday Report

3 Thinks

Posted on by Jo Mayne Casey

Think #1:

We celebrated St. Paddy’s Day with corned beef brisket, new potatoes, and cabbage, our usual tribute to Irish traditions. It was a tough choice between Guinness and Kilkenny Red, so we went with the always-popular Jameson and Ginger Ale. My great-great-great-grandparents, Joseph and Margaret Kinkade, were born in County Down; they arrived in the port of Philadelphia in 1832, both of of them 22-years-old. The Maynes have since credited their penchant for drinking to the Irish, which is soo much more glamorous than the majority-German-ancestors; however, European statistics reveal that Germans drink slightly more than Irish. C’mon, Irish! Get out on the gargle, have a hooley and get scuttered! We have a full year to practice…

Think #2: (very thinky)

I watched Deep Space Nine, Season 1, Episode 1, “Emissary” last night. It is a deep one: Commander Sisko meets an entity/life form that is not subject to linear time, believing that “what comes before now is no different than what is now, or what is to come: it is one’s existence.” They read Sisko’s mind and see that the trauma of his wife’s death is a tragedy that his mind replays over and over and over, and though he explains that a human is ultimately the sum of his experiences, they point out to him that he “chooses to exist in that memory”, in fact does still exist in those memories, and that is decidedly Not Linear…

It just so happens that I’m going through old photos, picking some new ones for framing, and that stroll down Memory Lane is decidedly Not Linear. In the moments that I gaze at the youngsters in the pictures, dressed up and having fun, I exist in those memories, along with my now-grown-up babies and long-dead parents. What a blessing and such a curse! Our ability to re-live sometimes overwhelms our brain with raw emotions and though the Passing of Linear Time does soften the edges of our pain or joy over the years, we do Still Exist in those “moments remaining in a burnt-out light” *John Prine.

Counting the Years, as one does when one is celebrating a Jubilee Year, it’s clear that Sisko was right when he explained that a human is ultimately the sum of his experiences: (using baseball as a metaphor)

Sisko: In the end, it comes down to throwing one pitch after another, and seeing what happens. With each new consequence, the game begins to take shape.

Alien Batter: And you have no idea what that shape is until it is completed?

Sisko: That’s right. In fact, the game wouldn’t be worth playing if we knew what was going to happen.

Jake Prophet: You value your ignorance of what is to come?

Sisko: That may be the most important thing to understand about humans. It is the unknown that defines our existence. We are constantly searching, not just for answers to our questions, but for new questions. We are explorers. We explore our lives day by day, and we explore the galaxy, trying to expand the boundaries of our knowledge…

They don’t call it Deep Space for nothin’.

Think #3:

We’ll have a nice quiche to celebrate the Vernal Equinox, the 71st of my existence, tomorrow at 5:24pm. We woke up to a dusting of snow today, and the freeze is not going to let up for a couple more days, but the rest of the week looks good for working on the Peace/Bird Garden perennials. That’s where you’ll find me, though in my mind I’ll be existing among all the gardens of the past, leading up to this Only-Moment-that-Is, Right Now.

Peace

Posted in Sunday Report

Spring Forward

Posted on by Jo Mayne Casey

Ugh, Daylight Savings Time, when adding an hour actually is subtracting an hour, confusing my body and my brain.

I am not particularly interested in saving time; I prefer to enjoy it. – Eduardo Galeano

Peace

Posted in Jubilee, Sunday Report

Storms and Sunshine

Posted on by Jo Mayne Casey

We seem to be alternating between fierce winds and drenching rains to breezes and sunshine as we transition to Spring — nothing new in this neighborhood. Lots of trees are down and small limbs and branches are littering the grounds, so the weather has let up to allow us to clean up before the next wave arrives.

I have to fight the urge to go out and start planting, or at least start seeds inside, but we could easily have freeze and snow until middle of May… To bide my time, I’m cleaning up the back porch and garden shed, always a treat and much preferable to cleaning the house.

I’m planning a trip over to Southern Illinois tomorrow, predicted to be a beautiful day. My Carmi friends have a new garden plot and I’m excited to see it and dream up a design. I’m sure I’ll be inspired and come home with ideas for my own scheme.

The Orchid Show is still going on over at the Zoo and that’s on my agenda, as well. Have you visited it yet?– it would be a great retreat on a rainy day.

In the meantime, the mundane tasks of reading, writing, and making music are keeping me company, but I’d love to meet up for lunch. Anyone?

Pulling on my boots and headed outside! Hope the sun is shining where you are!

Peace

Posted in Jubilee, Sunday Report

Home again

Posted on by Jo Mayne Casey

Thanks, dear friends, for the many happy-birthday-wishes. The Jubilee has just begun! Day 4 of being 70 is showing promise as we unpack and plow through the laundry.

Our trip was Super! We did several things that we’d never done before: watched the sunset from Topolino’s Terrace, ate lunch at La Creperie in France, and rode Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind.

Cosmic Rewind is the BEST RIDE EVER!!! so we rode it twice.

On my Birthday Evening, we were gifted with reservations at Raglan Road, where we met up with one of the Irish Dancers there who made it such a special treat. We watched the Magic Kingdom fireworks from the beach at Fort Wilderness, visited Port Orleans French Quarter to celebrate Mardi Gras, and basked in some beautiful sunsets.

The picture below kind of sums it up: These two kids are happy…

One of the perks of our traveling is how good it feels to get back home. Breaking up the monotony of winter is especially invigorating, and with only three weeks until the Spring Equinox it feels like the days are considerably longer, if not brighter.

My Jubilee Mission continues: To fill the Year with love, laughter, good health, and good people. So far, so good…

Peace

Posted in A Very Disney Birthday, Jubilee

Birthday Day

Posted on by Jo Mayne Casey

Disney World is Not just for kids, as I have shown you. In fact, we’ve walked nearly 12 miles since we arrived and I haven’t had anyone carry me, so far, like I see all these little’uns.

Yesterday we broke camp at Fort Wilderness and moved over here to Pop Century — our home-away-from-home. The weather is very hot and humid, so I’m glad we’re not camping the whole trip.

And now the Big Day has dawned and I’ve completed yet another trip around the sun, my 70th. Park Hopping is my cardio and I’m feeling pretty fit. We’re scheduled to ride Guardians of the Galaxy – Cosmic Rewind around 4:30 at Epcot today and have most of the day free to do whatever we feel. Celebrate!

It seems appropriate to quote Walt Disney…

To finish up the Judith Viorst poem, quoted in Sunday’s post, re: turning the big 7-0:

……In the meantime,

Let us consider

Drinking wine,

Making love,

Laughing hard,

Caring hard,

And learning a new trick or two

As part of our job description

At Seventy.

That’s a pretty good job description for any of us, don’t you agree? I’m so grateful for all of you, truly appreciative of all my readers, whatever your age… Join the Jamboree and celebrate with me!

Hope you youngsters are able to keep up with us Class-of-’71-ers…

Peace

Posted in Sunday Report

and the Jubilee Jamboree begins…

Posted on by Jo Mayne Casey

After a particularly gray, gloomy week here at the Acres, we’ve escaped, driving south toward sunshine and balmy temperatures. As if that weren’t enough, it’s Birthday Week!

We were off to a great start Friday evening with a Game Night Party to celebrate Samantha’s 8th and my 70th. We played the new Life Goals card game and learned the Clue card game. Both of us Birthday Girls won, and though the Pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey game was very competitive, the victory went to me.

If it’s noon, we’re driving through Chattanooga, a highway that makes me nervous. There’s something about runaway truck lanes that puts me on edge. If you’re reading this later in the afternoon, we’ve hopefully made it through Atlanta without too many stops and are cruising down the looong state of Georgia. We’ll stop tonight around sunset and spend the night in a campground. Goldie has been remodeled since our last outing and I believe we’ve got the layout just right for our needs.

I recently discovered an old (2005) book of poems by Judith Viorst, titled “I’m too young to be Seventy And other delusions”. She so perfectly put into words so much of what I’m feeling about this aging thing, and I’ll probably be sharing some of the poems with you this year. The title poem, “At Seventy”, starts like this

Instead of “old”

Let us consider

“older”

Or maybe “oldish”

Or something, anything

That isn’t always dressed in sensible shoes

And fading underwear.

Besides which, seventy isn’t old.

Ninety is old.

And though eighty is probably old,

We needn’t decide that

Until we get there.

I’m considering this trip a reset, a re-boot, a rejuvenation, a kick-off celebration of my long-ish life and overflowing blessings. I’ll be in touch, and we’ll see how that poem wraps up.

Peace