Everything sublime is as difficult as it is rare. Baruch Spinoza

Monday, June 14, 2010

Woe Is Me

At least some things are enjoying the weather.


A week ago I wrote about the joy the sound of rain brought after going through a dry spell. We have been wet all week. Thursday night we got four inches. It has rained all week. The mosquitoes are as bad as I can ever remember. I have two flats of annuals to pot and combined with the rain and the blood-sucking monsters I have let them sit. At least there is not a worry about them drying out before they are planted.


I know I will be doing the rain dance in July when there is not a cloud visible, but where weather is concerned, it is always purely the moment. And for the moment it is not good. The mosquitoes will guarantee I will stay out of the gardens. I tell you, if it's not one thing it surely is another.


Let me get one more whining complaint in; this relentless dampness really kicks my arthritis into full bloom. Now I sound like the old lady I am feeling to be! It's difficult to reconcile the person with the swollen joints and creaky bones to the one who climbs ladders and paints buildings, who cares for lots of horses and who usually can work all day. That be not me today. Today I am old. Tomorrow perhaps I will be middlin' again.

8 comments:

Cyndi and Stumpy said...

"...It's difficult to reconcile the person with the swollen joints and creaky bones to the one who climbs ladders and paints buildings,..."

So far I haven't succeeded in this endeavor; not even a smidgeon.

Although I really enjoyed the unending month of rain last year, when I visited,I'm hoping that the East Coast and North Woods will have rained itself out, by the time I head home.

I always forget to mention how much I enjoy your prose. And prose it it! Your words always paint such dramatic pictures, capable of drawing forth an array of matched emotions. I won't say you missed your calling, but surely there is another waiting for you whenever you choose.

Bonnie Zieman, M.Ed. said...

It is a challenging and even startling passage, isn't it? I love how you have captured the way the process of ageing shifts - the way old creeps in and how vigor can re-emerge and fool you into thinking you are young again -

Wow, your garden is lush and colorful!! Lovely pics.

I second g.s.ch.'s comment about your beautiful prose and possible future endeavors!!!

Mel said...

I have been reading and pondering all your posts lately, but have had no worthy words arise except me too. Me too. The mosquitoes, the rain, the arthritis, the creeping age that won't leave me be. Me too. I have chronic neck problems and have just recovered from a painful shoulder injury thanks to my excitable huge dog and the stairs. I missed an entire season in the yard because my shoulder was frozen. A year of painful therapy, and this Spring I was back! Gardening with abandon, hauling pails of water for the ridiculous number of baskets I planted, and volunteer perennials I transplanted. Well, of course I aggravated both shoulders and now thanks to heat and humidity, my joints are all screaming and I am tired and useless, watching out the window again, wondering if I should be happy or sad I had that window of functionality. I'm just not doing this getting older thing very well at all. Your posts are channeling many of my thoughts, and I find myself also with an array of matched emotions.
Hope we rally, and the weather changes, soon. Summer is too short in the midwest to waste like this. I have annual anxiety about the solstice approaching, because it begins the downhill slide to shorter days. Am I posterchild for negative thinking lately?
Anyway, thanks for your words and lovely photos. And for what it's worth, Me Too.

Elizabeth said...

The variability of weather -- sigh. It's why I live, here, in this temperate climate, although every now and then I miss a soft rain.

I hope it stops, there, and dries up enough that your arthritis stops acting up.

But thank you for all the beautiful photos -- it all looks so lush.

Sandra said...

gsc, if you have succeeded in avoiding painting then I think you are a step ahead of me! I am hopeful that the rainy season will be over when you get to New England. I don't think I have a career awaiting me, but I do appreciate your words! I enjoy putting thoughts down, if not on paper, at least on cyberspace.

Bonnie, if I could control my body simply by the power of my mind, I would be able to leap tall buildings in a single bound! Unfortunately, my mind is almost always willing, but my flesh is not. The gardens are lush, but the weeds are starting to get a foothold. The mosquitos keep me out as much as the rain does. As with gsc, I thank you for your kind words and I am glad you read and comment on my blog.

Mel, me too is about as worthy as it often gets. I have used over-the-counter pain patches on my shoulder and it has helped. If you haven't tried this, I would suggest it. I know how it is to feel better and go full force. Sit down, have a glass of something and admire your handy work. Advice to you that has been given to me. I am trying to take it and I will share it with you.

Elizabeth, it has stopped raining, at least for now. No one could call MN temperate, it is a climate of extremes. I suppose that is why we who call it home tend to be slightly mad. I'm glad you like the flowers. I do too.

Memories Of Mine said...

I'm allergic to mosquitoes and yet I can be the only one in a crowd of 100's with repellent on and they all bite me.

I hope the weather dries p a little and sends the mosquitoes and those aching joints packing their bags, so you can be yourself again and get back into the garden.

The flowers that are currently blooming a very beautiful.

Sandra said...

Liss, interesting you should bring up an allergy. I get huge welts which bleed and scar from mosquito bites. I have wondered if I'm allergic.

Unknown said...

I forgot to comment here....
I gardened today after too much rain. No mosquitoes, but the soreness...this I know.
Every year feels like 10.

and I had to laugh when I posted a quote, with the mosquito reference , thinking of you. although welts are not funny. :)