Passing Of An Era

 This past weekend we attended the funeral for my Aunt Pat, who passed away in April.

It was a nice service:  small and pretty straightforward,  each of her children reading something.  There was a short eulogy, Communion, and a dinner afterwards.  We were done and packed up within 3.5 hours of the start.

The interesting thing to me was not so much the service itself but what it presaged in terms of the future of family gatherings.

My mother's brother is the sole surviving member and/or spouse on my mother's side of the family.  He (and I, I suppose) have second cousins that are not far away from the state of Old Home, at least two that I can think of.  They were absent.

Of my aunt and uncle's family, all three of their children were there and the two grandchildren.  Our other cousin and his family were away (they often are; a combination of an age difference and a difference phase in life makes this a reality).

Of our family, my sister and The Outdoorsman were there, as were my nephew and his wife and The Outdoorsman's sister.  The Ravishing Mrs. TB was there, as was Nighean Bhan and The Fiancé.  My mother in law and sister in law were there.  Absent on our side was The Brit and his wife my niece, Nigheane Gheal, and Nighean Dhonn.

It suddenly hit me that this was how things were likely to be in the future.

This always happens of course - or I suppose at least happens in the modern era. Family moves away and becomes involved in their own lives.  It costs a fair amount to travel anymore, so anyone who is likely not close or very directly related may not be able to come.

And so, the ties of family slip away slowly, to be replaced by photos and texts on The Computers In Our Pockets and occasional calls.  Perchance a big event may present itself upon occasion - a funeral or perhaps a wedding - but even those are few and far between.

I should be fair though:  I, too, have not been around, at  like I used to be.  After April and the sale of The Ranch, this was my first trip back to Old Home.  And at least on the calendar, it will be my last trip back for awhile.  Part of that is simply that going now is much more of a production - I will need a pick-up (as I always did), but I will need a place to stay as well for the weekend.  Day trips are possible, but long (and they cost just as much as a weekend trip).  

I, too, am in some measure drifting away.

Perhaps this is just the way of the world now.  But it leaves me with a sadness in my heart as I watch the wisps of memory and interaction drift apart like the leaves falling outside my window in the cold October wind - because I know that, unlike the leaves, these things will not return.

A Year Of Haiku (XL): Stepwise

 

Beneath the split bark,

Fungal steps slowly ascend:

Decay and rebirth

2025 Cambodia And Vietnam: Coconut Island

 After cruising on and across the Mekong River, we disembarked at an island.  Our guide referred to it as "Coconut Island"; I am sure it has a real name but for the purposes of the trip, Coconut Island it will be.

Concrete paths served as small streets and bike lanes:

A jackfruit:

Multiple jackfruits on their way to market:

A grave:

Coconuts!

2025 Cambodia And Vietnam: Mekong River (I)

The Mekong River, which terminates in Vietnam, is the world's twelfth longest river by length, passing through China, Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam.  It length is estimated at 3,090 miles/4,909 km.  Annually, it discharges 114 cubic miles/475 cubic meters of water (For comparison, that is the volume of Lake Erie).

We took a bus ride to the transit location.  The small white structure you see in the field is a tomb; traditionally farmers were buried by (or on) their fields:

I do not think one of these was our ship, but similar enough:

What is a tropical cruise without fresh coconut?

Technically we are edging into (or in) The Mekong Delta Region.  There were a series of small islands as we set out farther into the river.

As you might imagine, the Mekong River is a water highway for commerce:

Getting closer to an island, where we will disembark:

A Sense Of Magic

(Source)

We have lost our sense of magic.

At one time, the world was a magical place for. True, I had a pretty naïve view of the world in the form of a very sheltered life and engaging from an early age in reading the sort of books that involved very gentle forms of magic - Raggedy Ann and Andy, The Oz Books, sanitized classical mythology, gentle science fiction of Andre Norton, Tolkien's Middle Earth and Lewis' Narnia.  There was magic out there in the world, I thought, even if I could not see it.

In the same way, I had a rather naïve view of love.  Courtly romantic ideology was my model - to be honest with you, I cannot tell you fully where that came from other than reading these stories of heroes defeating evil and pure love, and later the stories of Edgar Rice Burroughs' Barsoom and Venus, great heroes doing great deeds to win the hearts of beautiful women.

The world scarcely works like that of course, and at some point those things began to fall, stripped away by the world and the evils of it and cynicism and in many cases, my own willingness to abandon innocence for a knowledge that I thought promised far more than it gave.

And yet, somewhere within me, those beliefs still manage to hold on.

To be fair, it means that I consciously choose to know or not learn about a great many things.  That could be called a form of willing ignorance.  I find that such a thing preserves my peace.

But even with this, the world still seems so cold and so devoid of mystery.  Part of that stems from the fact that we have stripped away the mystery consciously in search of knowledge and understanding.  Yes, we know the what and wherefores of why so many things happen, but we have lost that spark of mystery, of wonder that used to fill my childhood.

In some ways maybe I can recapture it.  And of those ways is simply make it for others.

How?  By sending along pictures of things I see on my walks or on my travels, of pictures like the one above that tell small stories.  By sharing a sense of wonder of the world with others.  Of see the good and mystery in daily life, and trying to help others to see it as well.

Likely I can never fully recapture that spirit of mystery and magic and wonder.  But I can choose to keep trying to find it every day.

A Year Of Kindness (XL): Keeping A Kind Heart

 

(Source)

It is a fair statement to say that, on the whole, life is not inherently something which causes people to tend towards a kind heart.

It is easy enough to have "kindness" when things are going well for us, when our stomachs are full and our finances well and all the elements of our life are in place.  It is less easy when some or none of these are true.  

And life will happily hand out these "lessons":  The income that disappears and never comes back. The relationships that ends or goes awry through no fault of our own. The words that are given to us by those that are either being "helpful" or simply seek to make themselves large at the expense of others.  

The evils that men and women do, writ large on a canvas of the innocent and the vulnerable.

Given all that can (and does) happen, it is easy enough to throw in the towel on kindness. Make it a thing which we do when we are in the mood or feeling "generous", a sort of charity that we dole out based on a feeling of superiority or personal greatness.  Which the world does rather frequently:  kindness becomes a thing that one extends "if convenient" or "if we agree with (fill in the blank)".

We - at least Christians - are called to something more.

Christ, the Apostles - all are clear that we will have trouble in this world.  But they are also clear that we should live our lives at a higher standard that just being kind when we feel kind or in a position to be kind.  We are called to an almost constant state of kindness by the One who was kind to the point of giving His life for us.

So if you are still able to be kind in the face of a world that has been and continues to be unkind, know you are carrying out Your Father's will.   After all, in a world of darkness one candle shines all the brighter.

2026 Garden: Shutting Down The Allotment

 Our last official work party of the Community Garden happened this past Saturday.  Part of this part is the prelude to getting the garden ready for Winter.  All non-continuing plant material has to be removed and the plot covered in shredded leaves for the Winter.

The last remaining plants when I went back on Sunday to finish up:  tomatoes, buckwheat, rye, barley, and a number of leeks.

Covering up with leaf mulch:

The final mulched product.  I have spots for the remaining growing items, which I will need to fill in with hay or other much.

My gardening neighbor very kindly gave me some strawberry crowns to over-Winter:

How did I feel about this year's Allotment experience?

Good, overall.  I am offering myself some grace that I came late into it and did not fully know the layout of the plot (especially the sun exposure).  The tomatoes were overall successful, although I think two good plants of each would have been better than the 10-11 sad ones I had.  My corn was slow growing and a last minute deer attack robbed me of some pretty nice cobs.  The dry beans were wildly successfully.  Buckwheat has fallen in between.

Still, it is hard to argue with the experiment. At $45 a year and 8 hours of volunteer labor, I get a reasonably sized plot and all the water I can use (Plus, they have a greenhouse to use in the Winter for starting things).  The Allotment is stupidly close and gives me an excuse to walk every evening to water.

I am looking forward to next year.

Book Review: Japanese Style Companion Planting

With the oncoming end of (arguably) my first gardening season here in New Home 2.0,  planning for next year has already begun. While giving myself credit for having grown anything at all given a rather late start in planning (and planting) the hope is that I will do better next year.   

As longtime readers here know, my solution to almost any problems is "Buy a book".  Those readers will also know that I have a long and endearing love of things Japanese.  If only I could bridge those two interests.

If only.

Japanese Style Companion Planting:  Organic Gardening Techniques for Optimal Growth and Flavor by Dr. Toshio Kijima (Japanese version 2018, English version 2020:  Tuttle Publishing) is based on a combination of traditional Japanese gardening (small spaces) and a sort of a practical knowledge that over time, they have learned that certain plants simply do "better" when they are planted next to or near one another.  This book synthesizes those two elements and gives the "why" to what has been observed practically for years.

(A shout out to either Amazon, Tuttle Publishing, or both for the following pictures pulled from Amazon.  It is unusual to see so many pictures of a work available.)

The author, Dr. Kijima, is listed as the head of the Biotechnology Department of Toshigi Prefectural Agricultural Experiment Station and as the principal of the Nogyo Daigakko (School of Natural Farming) in Shizuoka prefecture on the main island of Honshu.  He has (per the book) been an advocate for natural farming since at least 1990.

Dr. Kijima's premise is that companion planting accomplishes four things (seen below):  Preventing Disease, Repelling Pests, Speeding Up Growth, and Efficiently Using Space. By using combinations of plants which have one or more of these attributes, one can achieve greater results on smaller spaces with less use of pesticides and outside inputs (the ones most often mentioned in the book are compost and organic fertilizer).

Below are examples of how companion plantings are accelerating growth by providing partial shade and driving away pests.  Also evident is how root structure can impact the nature of companion planting.

Below is an example of one recommendation, edamame and corn (both of which I planted this year, but not in this fashion).  Each section includes the symbols of which of the four elements these plants entail, a brief description, instructions for how to plant in a companion fashion, and visual instructions as well (great for someone like me who needs pictures of these things):

How the planting will look at maturity:

At the end of the book, some garden planting plans are presented to give some idea of how to use the method for things like continuous cropping:

I enjoyed this book very much.

The layout of the book is comprehensible, enjoyable, and actionable.  Almost 90 different companion plantings are presented - all with descriptions and pictures.  I suspect even if "your plant" is not on the list (he covers all the main ones as well as some Japan-specific varieties), one could extrapolate based on families of plants.  The writing is clear, concise, and (for a gardening book) pretty enjoyable.

And pictures.  Lots and lots of pictures.  Drawings of how to plant, how the plants should look at maturity, and pictures of the plantings in real life.

I do not have a rating system, but if I did this would rate very highly.  $14.95 at Amazon ($19.95 list price).  I would argue if you got one good idea from this book (and you will get more than one, I think) the book has paid for itself.                                                                                                                                                  

A Year Of Haiku (XXXIX): Moonleaves

The concealed moon

of Autumn watches cloud-wisps

and leaves slowly pass.