We slept late today, not peering out the sunny windows until almost 7:30. I needed it. My mind, my body, my soul… Life is good and beautiful but sometimes very heavy, and the deep sleep has done wonders for me.

Soon I crept outside with perfect coffee, wearing my gorgeous new (thrifted) red satin kimono and snapped a few photos of the farm, this place we have made our home, these nine acres of natural wonder and animal fascination and unending work.

So much work, every where we look. But today is Labor Day, so Handsome and I are resting. We are pausing the long list of projects and chores and repairs in favor of repast and maybe a little romance. I’m hopeful that the deep refreshment of a good night’s sleep will carry over. My husband especially needs it.

Part of the reason we slept late today is that last night we partied late. It’s Handsome’s birthday weekend, perhaps you remember, and we had the farm filled with friends until almost midnight. It was wonderful! So much happy, loving energy floating around. So many laughs, so much food. Our hearts and full and our belies ache.

Last night I took a small group of kids and one lovely new friend out to see the bees. The sky was pitch black, only a crescent moon and glittering stars to barely light our path. So with a flashlight we all gazed at the bee hives coated in trembling, fuzzy creatures. The kids asked excellent questions and then on the way back up the garden path they harvested a dozen tomatoes and one eggplant in the dark.

I am frequently stunned by the beauty we find here. Today it took my breath away. Big sweeping views, tiny colorful details. Fragrance, animal chorus, thrumming loving energy leftover from our friends and sustained by Love. There’s so much.

Happy Labor Day friends! I hope that if it’s your wish, you manage to pause all your heaviest work and just soak up the best things. Look around and see your life. Smell it. Taste it. Feel it.

Recharge.

XOXOXOXO

I am filled with regret. Not the amount of regret you might have from getting drunk and waking up with a face tattoo. Not quite that much. But still more than the amount of regret you’d have from eating Doritos at bedtime and forgetting to brush your teeth afterwards. Have you ever woken up in the morning with all-night Dorito breath? Regrettable.

Today my regret is somewhere in the middle there, and it has to do with not growing enough basil this year.

In years past basil has been my one little crop with big dreams and even bigger accomplishments. It’s never failed me. I’ve always enjoyed piles of the fragrant stuff for months and months, all between Easter and Halloween, with seemingly no end in sight and with enough to share generously without ever worrying I’d run out. I ate every variation of pasta with basil. Fruit with basil. I made basil smoothies (amateurs might call it pesto) and put basil in my coffee (not really). My friend Tracy even brought her daughter Lauren and Lauren’s friend out to the farm last summer to record a song all about basil (it was to the tune of a great Whitney Houston ballad).

Basil was my jam, you guys. Oooh… wait, basil jelly, is that a thing?

This year? Not so much. I anticipated it. I ordered from catalogs and saved from last year’s bounty and planted seeds. I saw sprouts. And I gave thanks, celebrating the beginnings. But somewhere along the way the basil just didn’t happen, and I have been so busy doing other gardenish things that I didn’t stop to try again.

So as I type this, another bizarre Oklahoma monsoon in July* is probably drowning the only basil I still have, which is one Genovese plant from seed and one small boxwood plant from Walmart, divided in two. Not much, folks. Not much at all.

It makes me sad, because I always thought basil and I had a special bond. An herbal connection that no rainstorm and no aggressive morning-glory vine could destroy. Where did I go wrong? I loved you, basil. I thought you loved me, too.

On the bright side, of course, the sage and parsley are thriving like nobody’s business. So that’s awesome. And since this year I have finally figured how to slim down, getting closer and closer to the jeans size I want to wear, I eat less pasta than ever. So perhaps I need less basil than I think. The sage is more versatile with my high-protein diet anyway, so I will just roll with it.

Nice knowing ya, basil. I will keep our memories. Maybe next year we’ll try again.

Oh, my friend, it’s not what they take away from you that counts.
It’s what you do with what you have left.
~Hubert Humphrey
XOXOXOXO 

*For the record I am NOT complaining about the cold and the monsoon here in Oklahoma. It is all pretty wonderful. Our pond is up to the banks for the first time in years. The fields are lush. The animals are healthy and happy. But you have to admit, it is bizarre. And apparently not ideal growing conditions for basil.

Howdy! Do you remember back in April when I posted a sample citizenship test? It was 100 questions. Here’s a link to that post.

Tiny T remembers. (Name that meme!)

I’ll tell you who else remembers: Martie.

Hi Martie!

I owe a big, juicy apology to this dear reader. She is almost local to the farm, living in sort of nearby Guthrie, Oklahoma. Our great state’s original capitol! It’s a great little city. Guthrie boasts a beautiful main street filled with cool shops, delicious cafes, and trendy coffee houses. Their gorgeous, shaded Mineral Wells park hosts some of the nicest car shows and Zombie 5-Ks around. AND Guthrie is where my beekeepers’ club meets each month. Love it there!

Anyway, sweet Martie has been commenting here for a while and has asked me a couple of times if I would please post the 100 answers to that little citizenship test. Well I lost the answers. Okay? I just did. I forgot to save the answer page back in April and have been having a long, extended nervous breakdown over this ever since.

So. Very. Embarrassing.

Tonight I found them!!

So. Very. Exciting!! I really needed this win, you guys. And I am happy to be able to post them here for Martie especially. She’s such a sweet lady, and she calls her guy “Handsome” too. xoxo

If you haven’t already, why not grab some paper and gather your nearest and dearest to see how much each of you knows. Do not cheat by using the internet!! Again, the questions are right here. Then check you answers below.

1. Red, White, and Blue.
2. 50
3. White
4. One for each state in the union
5. 13
6. Red and White
7. They represent the original 13 states
8. 50
9. Independence Day
10. July 4th
11. England
12. England
13. George Washington
14. Barack Obama
15. Joe Biden
16. The electoral college
17. Vice-President
18. Four years
19. The supreme law of the land
20. Yes
21. Amendments
22. 27
23. 3
24. Legislative, Executive, and Judiciary
25. Congress
26. Congress
27. The Senate and the House of Representatives
28. To make laws
29. The people
30. 100
31. Dean Heller and Harry Reid
32. 6 years
33. 435
34. 2 years
35. The President, cabinet, and departments under the cabinet members
36. The Supreme Court
37. To interpret laws
38. The Constitution
39. The first 10 amendments of the Constitution
40. Carson City
41. Brian Sandoval
42. Speaker of the House of Representatives
43. John G. Roberts, Jr.
44. Connecticut, New Hampshire, New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Rhode Island, and Maryland
45. Patrick Henry
46. Germany, Italy, and Japan
47. Alaska and Hawaii
48. 2
49. A civil rights leader
50. Your County Commissioners
51. Must be a natural born citizen of the United States; Must be at least 35 years old by the time he/she will serve; Must have lived in the United States for at least 14 years
52. 2 from each state
53. Appointed by the President
54. 9
55. For religious freedom
56. Governor
57. Mayor
58. Thanksgiving
59. Thomas Jefferson
60. July 4, 1776
61. That all men are created equal
62. The Star-Spangled Banner
63. Francis Scott Key
64. The Bill of Rights
65. 18
66. The President
67. The Supreme Court
68. Abraham Lincoln
69. Freed many slaves
70. The Cabinet
71. George Washington
72. Form N-400, “Application to File Petition for Naturalization”
73. The American Indians (Native Americans)
74. The Mayflower
75. Colonies
76. Rights:
    1. The right of freedom of speech, press, religion, peaceable assembly and requesting change of government.
    2. The right to bear arms (the right to have weapons or own a gun, though subject to certain regulations).
    3. The government may not quarter, or house, soldiers in the people’s homes during peacetime without the people’s consent.
    4. The government may not search or take a person’s property without a warrant.
    5. A person may not be tried twice for the same crime and does not have to testify against him/herself.
    6. A person charged with a crime still has some rights, such as the right to a trial and to have a lawyer.
    7. The right to trial by jury in most cases.
    8. Protects people against excessive or unreasonable fines or cruel and unusual punishment.
    9. The people have rights other than those mentioned in the Constitution.
    10. Any power not given to the federal government by the Constitution is a power of either the states or the people.
77. The Congress
78. Republic
79. Abraham Lincoln
80. 1787
81. The Bill of Rights
82. The Constitution.
83. In the Capitol in Washington, D.C.
84. Everyone (citizens and non-citizens living in the U.S.)
85. The Preamble
86. Obtain federal government jobs; travel with a U.S. passport; petition for close relatives to come to the U.S. to live
87. The right to vote
88. The place where Congress meets
89. The President’s official home
90. Washington, D.C., (1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.)
91. The White House
92. Freedom of: speech, press, religion, peaceable assembly, and, requesting change of the government
93. The President
94. George Washington
95. November
96. January
97. There is no limit
98. There is no limit
99. Democratic and Republican
100. 50

How’d you do? Tell me your score and I’ll tell you mine.

Thanks again for introducing yourself and visiting us here, Martie! I’d love to know your citizenship test score.

Be more Organized Than Me, Friends.
Not That That is Much of a Challenge.
But I’m Working on It.
XOXOXOXO

To mark the passing of great American poet Maya Angelou, I’d like to share with you my favorite quote from her. It has thrummed in my heart for years, inspired my pursuit of beauty in daily life, and helped me focus on what matters most and what is truly fulfilling.

“Surviving is important. Thriving is elegant.” ~Maya Angelou

Wise words from a lady filled with nourishing turns of phrase.

I hope that whatever you are facing that threatens your survival, you are able in fact to thrive. I hope you find ways to reassemble your broken pieces into something even more beautiful than before. Glean both gentle inspiration and bold strokes of electric genius, at just the right times.

Do you have a favorite quote or poem from Ms. Angelou? I’d love for you to share it here.

Sending much love from the Lazy W.
XOXOXO