A Symphony of Greens

We had a mighty rain Sunday night, almost three inches, and  there was talk of tornadoes in the southeast. I fell asleep, wondering if I would hear that train roar sound, should one come our way.  That, I thought, would be the proverbial last straw.

We were fortunate. The branches are running high but there was no damage to the road. Friends in Hot Springs, alas, had flooding.

When the skies cleared Monday morning, all the spring foliage was illuminated.

 The tender new leaves shone greeny-yellow, pinkish green, chartreuse, emerald, and a thousand different hues.

They dress the hills in a subtle tapestry that rivals Autumn's bolder show.

Baby Steps

A few weeks ago, after asking for recommendations from Facebook friends, I ordered a bar shampoo and refillable deodorant. It's all in pursuit of reducing the amount of single-use plastic in my life.  

I was totally impressed with the tidy, waste-free, recycled paper packaging--a sturdy little cardboard bag, just the right size for what it contained. What a concept! Amazon, who often uses huge boxes for very small objects, could learn something from these folks.

So, there was a bar of shampoo plus a soap dish for it and a refillable holder for the deodorant stick. I chose a citrus lavender scent for both and it smells heavenly!

I've been using both for several weeks now and am happy to report I really like them. The deodorant works and the shampoo bar quickly makes a great lather that leaves my hair squeaky clean. (I am using a little conditioner and will, when the big (plastic) bottle I have is gone, look into the bar conditioner.)

Using the bar shampoo has made me aware of how much traditional shampoo I've wasted -- squeezing out more than was needed. I suspect this bar will last a good bit longer than a bottle of shampoo. Which is good, as the bar stuff is a little pricey.

Just a baby step. Now I'm looking into bamboo toothbrushes and an alternative to plastic tubes of toothpaste. . .

It's Not Easy Being Green

The holiday decorations are going up in Marshall; the Thanksgiving turkey has been reduced to a delicious broth; I've made a start on Christmas cards; now comes the Christmas shopping.

In the past I've relied on John's woodworking and Amazon to do most of the work but, nudged by my daughter-in-law in Atlanta's wish list, I'm investigating some Fair Trade, environmentally and socially active businesses.  I was pleasantly surprised by many and slightly overwhelmed by others. So many choices -- cruelty-free, sustainable, vegan, woman or minority run, politically active-- I applaud the intentions, even as my head swims..

I'm trying to pay special attention to cutting back on plastic--all those sad pictures of sea creatures killed by eating/being trapped by plastic are haunting to me. But it's everywhere-- my toothbrush, my bottle of Dawn for washing dishes, the containers I freeze leftovers in-- the list is endless.

Ever since the early Seventies, I've used cloth napkins rather than paper, composted/fed to chickens food scraps, and tried to follow the maxim "Use it up; Wear it out; Make it do; Do without" -- well, at least the first three quarters of it. 

But today, almost every decision is fraught with difficult choices. I'm just going to have to get better at this. I've taken my own shopping bags to the grocery for years. Now I've asked for reusable cloth produce bags for Christmas. I reuse the plastic bags as much as possible and when I finally dispose of them, I tie them in knots so they won't blow around at the landfill 

Grocery shopping yesterday presented me with a new decision-making opportunity. I needed to buy eggs. (A possum got in our hen house and killed the rooster a few nights ago. The girls were traumatized and their egg output, already low due to the time of year, has dropped off.)

I definitely wanted cage free/free range eggs. Organic would be nice but not a deal breaker. And I wanted a cardboard carton, not foam, not see-through plastic. 

I settled for cage free in cardboard -- all the other candidates were encased in plastic.

And the Green Tide Rolls . . .

Creeping across the land . . .

Rejoicing the mountainsides . . .

Decking each tree in fresh finery . . .

Shimmering and singing . . .

In a tapestry woven from a thousand shades of green.

A Thousand Shades of Green

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Green Glory

Green, green, glitter-green...

Shining tapestry of Spring...

Myriad hues of green.

Turkeys wade through green

Weeds wing-high; vines embrace trees...

Trees explode in green.

Creeping tide of green,
Burgeoning inundation
I may drown in green.

 

Green Tide

Green ... the word contains

Myriads and multitudes. . .
Spring's profligate coin.

Chartreuse, emerald,

Sea-green, grass-green, apple-green . . .

I am drunk with green!

Wrapped in blissful greens,

Nature stretches...preens -- I watch,

Rapt in endless greens.

Verde Que Te Quiero Verde

Verde que te quiero verde.
Verde viento. Verdes ramas.
El barco sobre la mar
y el caballo en la montaña.

(Green, how I want you green.
Green wind. Green branches.
The boat on the sea
and the horse on the mountain.)

Those are the opening lines of the Spanish poet Garcia Lorca's Romance Sonambulo. I studied Lorca in Spanish classes in college (Emory, Atlanta, Georgia, spring of '61, to be precise) and still remember these lines -- they bubble up from my subconsciousness at this beautiful green time of year, when the foliage forms tapestries all around me.

Green's a blessing, a promise of life and growth and abundance. Nature's neutral, it sets off blues and purples, reds, yellows and oranges to perfection. Green rests the eyes and calms the mind,
quiets the noise and refreshes the soul. Thank goodness for green.

Here's another web album. It's what's happening at the end of June in the garden