Two days off?

Today is a US Holiday, at least that’s what my Google Calendar says.  It is also Good Friday, which is also a US Holiday, but really it is a holy day for Christians who mourn the death of the whole foundation of their religion.  I chose to focus on the first US Holiday.  It is one that everyone can participate in, no matter what religion, culture, age, or economic background.  It is Earth Day.

Yesterday I spent the day cleaning my house.  With all my traveling, it was pretty out of control.  The kids were less than on top of things while I was gone, which is unusual, and I let them know that I expect at least an effort while I’m on the road.  I spent an exhausting morning cleaning my downstairs and making it presentable for the company I’m having in two weeks, since I won’t be home to clean then…  I know, futile effort…

Last night, I did attend a Maundy Thursday service in a Presbyterian Church on the Green in Morristown last night.  It was pretty incredible.  Though not a member of the church,  I’ve been playing with the Baroque Recorder Consort that is part of the music program in this church for a few years now.  The music director is a gifted musician, and I’m fortunate to be able to play with the consort on special church occasions.  Maundy Thursday, the feast of the Last Supper, in this Church anyway, was a pretty incredible mix of choir, soloists, recorders, and very intense almost scary organ music.  They have in this vaulted cathedral like sanctuary one of those huge pipe organs, with pipes that reach all the way to the top of the vault.  Watching the music director play is watching brilliance, and your veins run cold from the sheer power of the sound.  And I got to play with the recorder consort during the communion service, it is my one passion in life that has nothing to do with fiber.  I’m not very good, and that’s OK.  They are patient, and it feels good to play with a group where there are no stars, only the perfect blending of all “voices”.

But what I really want to talk about is the fact that I haven’t been in the studio or near fiber for two whole days.  I’m sort of on withdrawal.  I did occasionally check email, but otherwise, I put on my cruddiest clothes, put on a baseball cap (A Rangeman Cap from my friend Robyn Spady for my birthday last year.  It is the only one I own, and you will understand if you read Janet Evanovich novels) and headed outdoors on this very gray, dreary cold, overcast Earth Day.

My half acre of beautiful gardens, ponds, perennials, flowering trees, and garden bric-a-brac was looking pretty worn out from the harsh winter, there were probably enough sticks in the yard and beds for a season’s worth of kindling for the chiminea.  There were lots of damaged plants from the nasty storms, lots of dead debris that we never got around to cleaning up last season before winter set in, lots of damaged and broken lawn decorations and furniture.  And garbage.  The recycling bins that are put out weekly have a habit of going out on days of severe weather and lots of trash gets blown under bushes and other lawn features.  And severe weather we have had.  More due in tomorrow.  The whole weekend is suppose to be a rainy mess.  I talked to someone in the grocery store today who commented that as soon as one of the frequently flooded roads in town opened, she drove up and down it half a dozen times because she is pretty sure it will flooded again by the end of the weekend.

Anyway, I took advantage of the fact that it was Good Friday and my kids were both off from school/work, and so was my neighbor’s son.  We all worked for a number of hours, and made a major dent in the condition of the property, so instead of seeing trash and broken debris, there are now signs of life.  The things blooming in the yard at the moment should have bloomed three weeks ago, but hey, at least they bloomed…

Happy Earth Day…