 |
| Blooming Pineapple |
Every year at this time peoples’ fancies (whatever that
means) turn to Spring cleaning, & despite the lack of a temperature variant
here in St. Croix , I’m not exempt. My urge is also propelled by the fact my Mom
finally succumbs to my pleas to visit around Mothers’ Day, thus making my
usually benevolent view of my piles of stuff a little more critical.
I frequently joke that I have ADD, as in Artistic Deficit
Disorder. I have a zillion ideas, most
of which I start in some format or fashion…& abandon for some other newer,
better idea shortly thereafter.
Fortunately or unfortunately (perspective?), I have materials for nearly
everything I think of…SOMEWHERE. So in
addition to the piles of half finished projects, there is always the trail of
unrelated stuff I had to unearth to find those materials. At 51, I know myself
well enough to realize that if I stopped to put away everything I dragged out,
I’d lose momentum & never even start the project before grinding to an
unsatisfying, overwhelmed halt. The difference between 51 & 21 is that you
recognize that trait in yourself & are more forgiving of the resultant
piles of ‘potential’ strewn everywhere.
 |
| Bumper Pineapple Crop! |
Potential is alternately my absolute favorite & most despised
word. The other day it caused me to
decide the strangler fig vines my friends were pulling out of the Botanical
Garden & heaping up to discard MUST BE RESCUED from that fate & stuffed
in the hatch of my car so I could take them home & MAKE Baskets & trellises,
& furniture & EVERYTHING!
(Sorry, the manic phase frequently comes out in all caps…no control over
that). When I got home, despite the fact
it was misting rain, I was so enthused about the project I sat right down on my
stoop in the rain & started a basket…at least I think it was a basket…like
Holly Golightly in Breakfast at Tiffany’s, I fear I may have switched the plans
& been ‘knitting a Brazillian ranch house instead of a sweater.’ 
After I spent about 45 minutes & had a respectable start,
it was quite dark out & had begun to seriously rain…& I hadn’t eaten in
hours. You can guess the rest. Five days later I got sick of tripping over
the pile of vines & the basket nubbin, & hucked it into a nearby bush
so I could continue later…who knows when?
The rain continued all day Saturday, a beautiful, tropical,
straight down I mean business Spring rain that thrilled my pineapple plants
& banana trees, overflowed my rainbarrel & impelled me to run out in
the downpour with every container I could grab, catching the gushing cistern
overflow & putting it aside to water plants when the dry season comes. My normally much more sensible dog Mu even
decided there must be some reason I stood in streaming water, so she came out
& got completely waterlogged watching me.
No doubt she was trying to figure out how to protect me from my
feeble-minded self.
It was only later that I remembered the seeds I had planted
in containers a few nights prior, no doubt getting the hoo-hingus beat out of
them & most probably sloshing right out of their pots in the
downpours. I had planted several
varieties of dwarf sunflowers, basils & zinnias, 3 heirlooms plus one
yellow pear tomato variety, cucumbers, green cantaloupe, & no doubt
something else I forgot in several planters & small pots. It is probably quite telling that all the
seed packets denoted the contents were packed for 2012 planting. Yes, I got distracted last year & didn’t
get them in the ground when I should have…no doubt because I started some other
project midstream.
 |
| Waterlemon Bloom |
This morning I noticed several different varieties of seed
sprouting in odd clumps, not where I had planted them but instead where they
washed to. I’m still heartened by the sight of sprouts—the epitome of
potential.
This weekend I made a pendant light by adding a fringe of
gem drops to a boring linen shade cylinder.
I actually finished this project & followed all the way through to
getting out my cordless drill & mounting hanging hooks. The light looks very warm, glowy &
inviting as I had hoped.
For those keeping score, that is one project completed for
the 278 started this year.
I might up that ratio this week when I (possibly) finish a
fun cigar box purse I’m working on. It
is actually the product of some past potential idea, wherein I had embroidered
an orchid on an old jeans leg I thought I’d use as a panel in a cloth purse I
was going to make. I found the panel
when I was digging for hat patterns (don’t ask!) & decided it was pretty
cute. It also coordinated with the
hand-painted plaid I had done on the other side of the box. So I cut a square of batting from some other
abandoned project, used my staple gun & upholstered the 2nd side
of the cigar box. I have an upcycled
denim belt I’ll apply as the strap, & some coordinating vintage fabric to
line the interior & after I apply trim around the edges, I may actually
have something else finished…maybe.
At least no one can say I don’t live up to my potential…more
like I hope to live long enough to realize all the potential I’ve started!
Happy Spring!
