I had the most amazing meal today.

Quite by accident, I found myself having lunch with a friend and his mother today. It was her last day here in Eugene, so it was touching to be invited to a family thing, especially since I was mostly a stranger.

Adam's mother is amazing. She's had cancer twice and kept working through both treatments. She owns a house up in Alaska, but came down to Eugene and delivered newspapers to cover her apartment. She lives simply; a bed in the livingroom, a bedroom full of plants(some of which I swear don't do well indoors, but there's a whole garden proving otherwise!), and an open door so her various children can come in from out of state to visit. She has a tiny little porch.... and she was raising chickens on it. Chickens. In an apartment complex. So, lunch consisted of rice, carrots, and cornish game hens.

It was the first meal I've ever had that was so personal, content-wise. These chickens had been hand-reared, fed good food, kept clean, and been slaughtered by the same person who had prepared the meal for us. It felt a bit like she was offering up some of herself, somehow. I live in a world where the only meat I've ever eaten has come hundreds of miles, packaged in plastic. My parents both ate food that was raised or grown by their families, but that's an experience I've never had.

She served me the plate with the wish bone on it. I wasn't sure if it was an accident, but I was amazed enough at the meal that I wanted to keep it as a reminder, so once we were done eating, I snuck it into my purse... and she smiled at me and said, "I gave you that to take home." It may have just been a wishbone, but it was something precious given casually, and I think it made her happy to realize that that it was received as something precious.

Oh, thank the gods, my car is working again. It's been two months of leaving an hour and a half early for work, getting home in the middle of the freakin' night, and walking around in the freezing cold between bus stops. Now my car... she is whole again!

Some neat things I noticed while doing so much walking:

-There's squirrels in the tiny little landscaped trees around my complex. I never knew squirrels made nests, but I stumbled across one stuffing its face with leaves and sticks one day, and I stopped to say hello. It stopped to pretend it didn't have a mouthful of mulch.

-Acorns actually grow into things. I know, it sounds obvious, right? But sometimes, nature just reaches out and smacks you on the head for not paying attention. I had a serious "Wow!...er...Duh, but Wow!" moment a few weeks ago; everything was so soaked that all the acorns on the ground burst open and started growing little pink penises. Yes. That's what they looked like. They were so cute! It's a shame none of them are likely to take root, since they fell on the lawn.

-Speaking of lawns... rain + water = Snap, Crackle, Pop! The grass spent several days bubbling and fizzing and generally carrying on like it was breakfast. I approve.

-There are, like, a billion earthworms all over the place around here, and a ridiculous amount of them went pioneering over the sidewalks in search of greener pastures. I know I looked weird trying not to step on any of them. Also, to Mecha-Eleven-Inch-Earthworm: You go, slimy!

-Hail is more pleasant to walk in than rain. The moisture bounces off!

On the subject of my car.. the poor girl needs a lot of love. I've been neglecting her and taking her for granted for the last five years, and it's starting to show. Even though the alternator's fixed, there's belts that need replacing, an oil drip that my mechanic assures me will turn into an oil leak, and there's the tiny matter of an oil change, new wipers, registration and, *cough*, insurance. As the paychecks come in, I'll work on that.

In the meantime, it occurs to me that, since I've come to think of the poor thing in terms of a gender, maybe it's time to look into some morale boosting. She needs a full clean, inside and out, plus something... -something-, I don't know what, to make her fresh. It may be time to lay down some protective spells, but there's the slight problem of the creepy voyeur elderly neighbors downstairs(you know the type.. the Ones who Watch. Gotta love those neighbors!) Their window faces the carport.

I thinned my herb sprouts today. It was a new experience, so I was afraid of either screwing up, killing everything, or leaving too few herbs in the little pots. Plus, I've been focusing so much of my thoughts on the little seedlings that I felt really guilty killing the extras. Goofy, I know. :D

Anyway, I ate a cutting of each (basil, chives, parsley), left one basil leaf as an offering to the cats, and am drying out the rest in the oven. It's a tiny amount of herbs, but it should be enough to grind up. Either I'll burn it as an incense for the remaining plants to grow healthy, or I'll scatter the powder in their pots to give some of the nutrients back. It just seems right.

Meanwhile, I now have three lavender sprouts! I really, really hope they survive!

This is really turning into more of a plant blog than a pagan one.:D It's just... it's spring, and I never knew how fun planting could be. Besides, this is all for incense and magical use, since I don't really cook so much as microwave.:P

So, next to the basil, chives, and parsley sprouts that are growing on the windowsill in my room(I need to thin this stuff out on the weekend.. but it's so small I'm worried about transplanting it!), I now have a pot with two, count'em, two lavender sprouts, a plastic greenhouse with sage and rosemary seeds, and a pot of mint seeds. Here's hoping.

Of course, as soon as I did this it decided to -snow-. Yes... spring is here, everyone! Yesterday we had sunshine, rain, and snow, and today we followed that up with sunshine, rain, and hail. Visit Oregon, and see all four seasons in 48 hours!

It's meant choosing between turning up the heat and drying the place out too much or taking the sprouts away from the sun so they're not on the freezing windowsill. This is -not- herb growing weather.

Being the utter plant noob I am, it's been confusing the heck out of me that the basil, chives, and parsley are doing fine while the lavender sits there, a boring layer of dirt in a boring little pot. The other sprouts are practically doing sommersaults in their eagerness to get out the window(I spin the pots every day), and... the lavender just sits there. Occasionally, I poke the soil, mutter some words of encouragement, and go about my business.

So apparently, lavender's notoriously hard to start, and it doesn't take well to potting soil at all. A little reading on the subject has suggested I start the seedlings between some damp paper towels and then plant them in a week or so. A little more reading has yielded the solution: "Buy a starter plant. You can't kill it once it's growing."

Hmm... I think that's what I may do. In the meantime, it's planting time, and I need more seeds! I think I'll try to add sage, rosemary, and mint to my collection next. We'll see what happens!