GRASSHOPPER WEATHER

It’s a cool morning of what will be a hot day. The grasshoppers have reached full size. They snap against my legs as I walk around the edges of the yard. They remind me of being seven years old, alone, but not alone under the huge sun on the Colville Nation. These Vermont grasshoppers aren’t near the size of those eastern Washington monsters, which seemed as big as staplers to young me, but they have the varied earth coloring. They range from mustard to charcoal and every color of dirt in between. I wish my chickens were here. They loved a grasshopper snack, and I loved watching them chase the insects like Keystone cops. You’d think the chickens’ underwear was on fire.

The Monarchs are back, and I am happy to see them floating about. I welcome home my endangered loves out loud. I have at least 50 acres of milkweed so you think I’d see more. I’m hoping for a global “smartening” so they can bounce back. Yes, I am staying hopeful. Intention is powerful.

I’m sitting on the writing/coffee drinking porch and out of nowhere a cool rain shower is starting. “Wash the noise,” my brain says unbidden. The sound and the smell of it are cleansing ecstasy. Sometimes rain releases you from certain responsibilities; gardening chores, “getting out there to enjoy the day,” mowing, errands, achieving, hustling, and other things we invent. I love rain, and when this happens I listen. “Be in your mind,” it says, and so I daydream as it comes down around me. My huge orange cat, Chet, comes over to nap nearby. (Or right on my computer keyboard.) I often wish I had his life. Together we listen to the constant hum of the wild native bees. People don’t think about the bees native to this continent, just the imported European honeybee. We have hundreds of species in Vermont alone! Here is a Tricolored bumble bee sitting on some Lacy Phacelia.

Phacelia is a plant bees go apeshit for. It’s really beautiful and smells fantastic. Along with Lambs ear and Culver’s root I recommend it highly. They also love Thyme flowers. (Of course, be sure you aren’t planting anything invasive for your region.)

My mind is still “stuck,” not able to go forward to another project or chore. I do the things but I’m not really present. Where is my energy? I have put some things in my own way in case I am becoming anxious about being “stuck.” I pull out a large embroidery project and just go. It got me through a rather depressing, unproductive four hour zoom yesterday for example. I have a poster project that needs lines thickened. That one is good for a repetitive coloring soothe. I used to do that as a kid too. Sometimes cooking works, more often cleaning. How stereotypically Virgo! Yeesh! What do you do to quell the anxiety when your energy levels aren’t there? Do tell! Here’s to energy returning like springtime! XO Neko