Pivoting Cycles, A Strawberry Moon

Just like the sprouting plants making their way through a growing season, we all have our own collection of challenges that fill our days, and hopefully we find a corresponding stack of solutions to make it through victoriously.

While our seeds sprouted and continued to grow as the summer sun took over, I observed as each plant met nature’s plentiful obstacles with the strategic resilience it needed to flourish. I always find this process to be inspirational. Iit helps me spark the optimism I need to make it through the bumps along my own path.

I decided to take note of the spring storms I faced as a human in 2022 and also collected  visual snapshots  of the strength and beauty blooming in nature that helped inspire me as I made my way toward the smiles.

Pivoting cycles, a strawberry moon

Database migrations & snapdragon blooms

Through March’s madness, and past the April fool

Finally the days are lighter longer

No more wearing masks to work & school

Reflect, wonder, anticipate, assume

So many endless tasks & heavy thoughts to consume

Hard to ignore all the empty desks & chairs

How do we fix these screen addicted stares

Still trying to forget our Covid Easter nightmares

Stuck in contemplation, immersed in a yawn

As I sit in the dim light of a Juneteenth dawn

The plants growing around me, at least they never lie

And they don’t even seem to mind when I cry

So I often hang with them, feed & admire til they die

A few seedlings actually survived the Scottish Fold

Unfortunately a couple became covered with mold

We tried our luck outside when the nights stopped being cold

Spring faded fast now it’s 95 degrees and sunny

The new cost of living ate all our money

All the lifeguards quit so there’s no place to swim

If she’s the one who has to deal with it then why is it up to him

Life after narcissism, domestic violence court zooms

Vaccinations, defamations, and active shooter dooms

Sometimes it’s really hard to find anything good

Even tho you really wish you could

That’s when I look around for the blooming flowers

Here’s a few that shared their magical powers:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/2Z5pcN1gwmMoJE2V9

HEALING WOUNDS

The massive shredding chainsaw, monstrous trucks, industrial death claw, and masculine grumbles and cackles could be heard from 2 blocks down. It’s sorta like salon day when my daughter & I attend our bi-annual cut & style hair appointments, but a lot louder, way more gets cut, & it’s definitely not as pretty. Every spring the City of Chicago Department of Streets and Sanitation, Bureau of Forestry crew winds their way up and down the city’s blocks chopping & grinding parts of roughly 500,000 trees in the public way. I’ll be honest, this day used to upset me quite a bit.

One of our most cherished family members is the majestic maple that lives in front of our house. It’s massive. When my daughter was born we installed a swing attached to a long rope that hung from one of the maple’s huge limbs. Since the 1st time she swung in that swing it’s been hard to get her out of it. As she grew, and got older, we got different kinds of swings. Sometimes now we swap in a circular disk for up to 3 kids to ride on at once, or the lounge chair swing that’s woven out of thick soft rope, or the long loop of stretchy fabric that can be reinvented into many different ways for various types of swinging acrobatics. We are happy to share our tree and swings with anyone who walks past, and at this point, most of the kids in our neighborhood have tried out each swing as well. While everyone was in quarantine and the parks were closed, when kids and parents got outside to take their daily walk our tree swing was a very popular destination. 

About a year before quarantine though there was a horrible storm that blew through our neighborhood and hit us really hard. Many trees in our neighborhood got destroyed completely and our maple actually was damaged quite a bit. A large portion of it blew down with a gust of wind and landed on my car. The only part of the tree that remained intact was the section connected to the branch that the swing hung from. My daughter was beyond relieved to see that her spot was still intact. 

After the storm the Streets and Sanitation, Bureau of Forestry people made their rounds and picked up the gigantic branches that blocked many of the streets, and while they did that they also assessed the trees that were still standing discussing which they would be chopping down. When they made their way to our maple I went outside and tried to eavesdrop to see what they were planning. I couldn’t wait. I told them they couldn't cut our tree. I would never let them. 

One of the dudes took me over to the broken tree parts in the street, and he showed me the ants that were pouring out of one of the branches. He explained that many of the big old trees were unfortunately diseased and the ants come from the ground and go up into the trunks. The diseased trees are easy for the ants to take over and they hollow out the inside of the trunks and branches so the trees become frail. When the storms come through, the trees suffering from disease and filled with ants break easily in the wind, and the large branches fall on our cars and houses until eventually there’s no more of the tree left. 

This is why they cut the trees down. For every tree they cut down, they plant a new one, and they even give us homeowners the opportunity to pick which species of new tree we want them to plant in place of the old ones. All I could say was, “Oh.” Fine. Maybe the city guys do know a thing or 2 about trees, and I guess they weren’t just nature hating jerks who cut down our beautiful trees for no reason. Then it dawned on me. Oh no… what if our maple was infected with disease and being eaten from the inside out by millions of ants! 

Since that conversation with the city dude 3 years ago, this has been on my mind. While they were still bare this spring I couldn’t help but notice all the damaged branches on the trees in our neighborhood, and I even started becoming a little obsessed. I’d go on walks to scope out trees with grotesque fungus or jagged torn off limbs. I’d stop, stare, study, get sad. There’s nothing I could do to fix their problems. All these beautiful peaceful majestic beings that seemed so strong… they are all slowly dying just like the rest of the planet that us stupid humans continue to ruin. I’m pretty sure trees can’t feel emotions like humans do, but either way I just wanted them to know how much I appreciated them. 

Their war wounds may be tragic, but they wear them with pride and withstand the brutal forces of weather season after season. All the stressed out broken parts of trees have stories of pain and suffering attached, but they never give up and just fall over. Instead, right before our eyes trees continue to use all of their energy to repair themselves, no matter how old or tired they may be. Some make it, some don’t, but without a doubt they stand tall with strength until the very end. Inspirational, to say the least.

So this year, I am happy to say that when the city guys came around with their saws, they passed by our maple tree without contemplation. She seems to be hearty & flourishing even after all the damage. Maybe the 1 strong limb that made it through the storm 3 years ago held on because she didn’t want to let go of the swing. Maybe she hears the laughter and sees the smiles on the kids' faces when they visit. Just maybe she feels how much she is appreciated. 

Well, we really hope so.

Ready, set, GO!

Ready, set, GO!…and just like that the growing season begins.
The journey kicks off with the smallest most important part –

seeds

Seed starting indoors is sometimes a success, and sometimes it’s not, but even when none of your early-spring seedlings end up making it all the way through to harvest time, it’s far from a failed attempt. Planting from seed always comes along with a learning experience. The more challenges you run into, the more you learn about what, when, where, and how to tackle the growing process differently next time. It’s important to keep that in mind, and not get discouraged. Buying a pack of seeds and some dirt will certainly cost less than buying starter plants, or the vegetables themselves. So it’s worth a shot!

 A very important factor in this process is timing. Getting a head start on the growing season can be exciting and beneficial, but you want to be sure that the plants will agree. Doing a little research about your gardening zone would be helpful before picking plants. Our gardening zone (we are in zone 5) determines what and when and where to plant. Some plants do better if they are started from seeds planted directly in the ground, while others may need a little extra time and warmth. Check the seed pack for clues. That’s where you will find out how long the plant’s growth cycle is and when it can safely live outdoors. Seeing as though we live in the Midwest, starting indoors may be necessary for some plants, especially certain vegetables that need to grow longer than our Chicago seasons will allow them to be outside. A good rule to follow is, generally speaking, most annual vegetables should be sown indoors about six weeks before the last frost.

And so it began.
They were all growing!

UNTIL…

This journey through a growing season is something I always find to be interesting and fun, and since I like to share, I usually always invite someone to join me. When I became a mom almost a decade ago, my daughter became my favorite go-to sidekick for many things, planting included. I’m thankful she is still interested, and I continue to invite her to join tasks from the beginning to the end of each plant’s life cycle. It’s pretty amazing to be able to watch a child grow right along with the plants that they are learning to nurture. 

We kicked off the 2022 growing season by grabbing a seed starting kit at the grocery store. I asked Laila to pick out a couple new seed packs to add to our collection too. We try to grow a couple new plants every year so we can learn about their flowers & fruits & everything inbetween. The plan this year is to start 10 kinds of seeds inside. We’ll nurture them until they are ready to be introduced, and eventually transferred to various outdoor locations where they will grow throughout the remainder of the summer.

… a fluffy menace caught sight of our array of crunchy spring green seedlings. One by one he bullied each and every living sprout that had been happily thriving in our seed starting kit. Some of the seedlings were ripped from their dirt and batted back and forth between the furry monster’s paws like a toy until they became too flimsy to play with. Then they were tossed aside in random corners, stashed under rugs, neglected and left to wilt completely. Was our seed growing project no more? Were any of our green babies salvageable?!

To be continued…

Weathering the Spring Storms

Upcoming topics in Green Thumb…

• the battle between freshly started seeds & the fluffy monsters who want them destroyed…

  Who will win?!

*** the seedlings may be smaller but they are showing their resilience!

• observing neighborhood trees as they get their spring cuts & shed their damaged limbs - there is beauty in both life and death

• surviving a single mom covid Easter with gratitude for the light shining from the bright blooming bulbs

• A visual montage including current blooms in every color of the rainbow

  🧡💛💚💙💜

STAY TUNED …

Lilac

Muscari

Pink Bush

Daffodil

Tulip

Growth

Written by Maria Ciaccio - March 2022

As we near the end of this second pandemic winter I’m sure we’re all feeling a lil drained to say the least. The fresh light of spring seems like a dream after being submerged in a pit of dark hues lit only by the cold blue glow of a screen. Certainly life has changed quite a bit over the past couple years. Heck, even my blonde hair that’s been the same for 40 years turned dark! But aside from that, one notable difference that stands out the most for me (as a single mom remotely working full-time) is the concept of relaxation at home. The once blissfully lazy wonders of couch-lock were high-jacked. Time off evaporated. Sleep is sparse. Homelife morphed into a work/mom/chore hodgepodge that never ends. It feels like I’m stuck on a constantly perpetuating hamster wheel and never free from a screen.

As humans, when we can’t find solutions, inspiration, or the resources we need to push ahead in tough situations, we might turn to a higher power of some sort and ask for guidance. Spirituality has infinite forms, and the spiritual being that exists in each of our individual minds can look and feel different as our life experiences change our viewpoints and perspectives. Some people find comfort in religion, some pray to a god, some go to church… whatever the case may be, whatever humans choose to worship can be vastly different from 1 mind to another. Personally, I divorced this entire concept many moons ago. Spirituality and I were separated in the midst of a shitstorm. I lost all sight of our connection while a hurricane of unfortunate difficulties disabled visibility. The rainbows and sunshine froze over and hardened. On the surface this was probably not noticeable, and I really didn’t feel like I was missing anything. I believed in facts. What else do you need? Why believe in something that might not show up. It seemed like involving spirituality of any sort  just complicated the process of actually making things happen in real life. Even the Elf on the Shelf pissed me off.

So why the heck did my future-self tell Zoe to tell me to see things differently? I was seeing just fine without the other eye!... Or was I? In the midst of another cold grey Tuesday full of zoom-headaches and a never-ending to-do list of not fun tasks, it hit me. The trapped feeling was so overwhelming, but there was nowhere to go. I tried to re-cap my options, maybe if I fit them into a chart or make an infographic, or I could paint a wall with chalkboard paint and make a fun chalk list: Fun Ideas to Escape Anxiety… It turns out that the solution options were bleak, too bleak to turn into a flashy graphic design project. You can’t take a 9 year old to a bar, or many other places when it’s Tuesday in a pandemic. She fights about everything that is not Roblox so probably not leaving is better. Sitting in my dirty bathtub didn’t sound appealing. Screens are nauseating at this point so that eliminates all things digital. My friends are working. Oh shoot, so am I. AAAAAAHHHHH!

Inspiration, creativity, laughter, excitement… it was all missing for so long. How do you find it again. I felt weak, and couldn’t breathe. That’s when my stubborn brain decided to try being open to finding something, anything to believe in. So I stumbled outside and walked to the park. It was cold and ugly outside. The wind was so harsh it hurt. I looked up. Maybe I could find “God” if I looked in the sky hard enough. I tried to force my third eye open. Scanned the winter clouds for shapes & forms. Nothing. The thought of going back inside to work/mom/chore world was so painful, roaming the park looking for God forever seemed more appealing. Then holy crap, I actually did! Right in front of me there was the most beautiful, giant, old tree, no leaves, just strong, proud branches reaching out to touch the other tree’s branches around her. The non-existent sun actually seemed to be shining brightly in her presence.

For decades she’s stood through all types of unforgiving Midwest weather: frigid  winters, hail storms, end of summer droughts. She grew bigger than anything else around, never gave up, didn’t  break, and she stood looking proud like a beautiful dancer in the wind. I will remain ever thankful for that tree in the park. Anytime I can’t find a much needed answer I am going to remember Mother Nature. She is my God, and I’m endlessly thankful for all the treasures she selflessly shares with us. Inspiration can be found in each morsel of her creations. All living creatures since the beginning of time have turned to Mother Nature for their medicinal, edible, structural, textile, industrial, literary, mythological, spiritual, inspirational needs and beyond. She still shares all she’s got even after all we have already taken. She’s the top head-of-household provider, an artistic creator, a fierce fighter, an innovative builder. She shelters us so we can grow like a selfless mother to us all.

Lily of the Valley

Description: yearly blooming bulb, old-fashioned perennial, asparagus family

Plant traits: sweet smell, delicate flowers, extremely cold hardy, found in woodlands, shade loving, toxic if ingested

Symbol: happiness (or return of), rebirth, luck, humility, motherhood, May

Uses: give someone you love a bouquet on May 1

Nasturtium

Description: ornamental annual

Plant traits: edible, spicy taste, pollinator friendly

Symbol: optimism, victory, humor, orange flowers = creativity & energy

Uses: culinary

Sweet Pea

Description: annual

Plant traits: beauty, fragrant, flower queen, elegant

Symbol: bliss, pleasure, positive, April

Uses: good omen wedding gift

Chamomile

Description: perennial herb

Plant traits: traffic resistant, aromatic

Symbol: rest, calm, rebirth, moving forward

Uses: anti-oxidant, skin treatment, pain relief, anti-anxiety, +health benefits

I love to grow, nurture, share, inspect, study, and eat plants. They are all awesome. I wish I could be one! But while I’m just a human, I’ll always be excited for spring. This year I will grow a bunch of plants, but I’m going to start with these 4 listed below because they align with a few of the things I want to focus on appreciating, studying, and/or changing in my life. I invite you to join me in watching them as they make their way through their life cycle. We have our own cycles and sometimes when I get stuck somewhere along my journey of cycles I look to my green friends for assistance, and they never let me down. 

Thank you for your company this growing season 💚

Much love always,

Maria