Friday, May 11, 2007

Seven True Things about...me...

Well, I've never had this happen to me before in the blogosphere--I've been "tagged" by our friend JenM. I must now tell you seven true things about me. So here goes!

1. Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so. I found this out when I was 29. Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift! 2 Cor. 9:15

2. I've been a wife to Gary for 24 years, a mother to Katie for 19 years, and a mother to Tim for 9 years. I am a stay-at-home, homeschooling mom and I wouldn't prefer to be doing anything else anywhere else on earth except with them, until God should call me to do so.

3. My first memory is of falling off a horse when I was two. I wasn't herding cattle or anything like that; the horse was standing in one place, my cousin had put me up there, and my dad caught me. I thought it was an imaginary memory until I asked my mom, but strangely enough she remembered it too. I've never been crazy about horses since then.

4. I love to garden; this is the most exciting source of self-inflicted pain and work and agony that I have been able to do with any particular success and happiness, except of course raising children (I mean that in the best sense, you know). In fact right now all my muscles and many of my joints hurt from it. We've been planting and establishing a vegetable garden in our back yard where there used to be a play area, about 20 x 30 feet. We have planted the seeds or home-started plants of tomatoes, peas, squash and pumpkins, romaine lettuce, bibb lettuce, corn, basil, parsley, mustard greens, beets, red chard, nasturtiums, broccoli, cabbage, cilantro, turnip greens, and green beans. So exciting! This time of year finds me carrying pots, seedling trays, seed pouches, watering cans, fertilizer and hoses up and down between the deck and the garden; hoeing, digging, amending the soil with homemade compost and "compost tea", weeding (about one full yard waste container full), planting, staking, and then stretching across various furrows and supporting myself mostly on the fingers of one hand so I don't trample plants while weeding. I almost turned myself on my head by doing so today. There are many rewards in gardening: It brings to mind a little poem that may be theologically incorrect but it might have an element of truth: "The kiss of the sun for pardon, the song of the birds for mirth; one is nearer God's heart in a garden than anywhere else on earth." Can't help but ponder it at least. The birds were singing, the sun was shining, a gentle breeze was blowing, and little shoots were sprouting up everywhere! Including weeds...sigh.

I don't know if it's as exciting to those to whom I show it off as it is to me. I know the hours invested in getting all these barely visible 2-3" plants to be there, and how clever I felt when I anchored a teepee shaped bean support into the ground for Tim's enjoyment.
I also believe that gardeners can get away with muttering to themselves, dressing funny, and wearing floppy hats, and that having muddy shoes on their welcome mat, and leaving pots, hoses and tools strewn about is a charming aspect of it all, so it fits me perfectly. And I have read that it is actually a good form of exercise. I believe it.

5. I love babies. And little kids. They're fun and funny and soft and transparent and messy and I wish I had their energy and more of their wonder, and in some ways that I could go back to knowing about as little as they know about the world around them. I also wish that my pudgy legs and shocking comments were as charming as theirs. But I'm glad I'm not growing up in their generation. (Funny, I used to hear old people say that to me, when I was little...)

6. I am in shape. (Round is a shape.) If you've seen me you already know this is true. God loves me anyway. Isn't He kind!?

7. I like words, I like to spell and I love spelling games such as Scrabble and Take One; misspellings and bad grammar make me twitch (but I'm getting better about it), I love to read if and when I have time, and I'm falling in love with the Book of Romans. If you haven't read it, you should...over and over and over again!

So there are seven things. Make me stop! There are lots of more fascinating topics. So what about you? What seven things are true about you that you can tell everyone? Your turn. Tag! You're IT!

2 comments:

The Resident Writer said...

I am really impressed by your enthusiasm and your skill in gardening!

The Resident Writer said...

"I like words and word games. Misspellings make me twitch."

I like you already.

A favorite quote: "Bad grammar is the literary equivalent of spinach in your teeth."