Hosta Hostages

"move them or lose them"

As the heat turns up with our new garage project, must do’s appear on our list nearly overnight. Tomorrow we are meeting with the builder, excavator, and town water and sewer departments to see our way through obstacle number one. The water and sewer hook ups seem to be on the other side of the street meaning we’ll have to dig through the pavement on the road to connect to each. While this isn’t a huge deal, every extension, redirect, and reconsideration most likely represents an additional cost to the project. Fault isn’t part of the equation, practicality and what’s already been done are the name of the game. Somewhere in the conversations, I remembered the Hostas that I had transplanted from the backyard up against the old garage, inside the small space alongside the brick walkway. They started off as babies but last year I remember remarking on how much they’ve grown.

Change is in the air, on our property, in our neck of the woods, and throughout the world. Old systems seem to be cracking, a deluge of rising prices on commodities and crashing securities have us all a little bit uneasy. I stopped at the market and reached in the cooler for a dozen eggs. I was used to .99, it’s been a while since I’ve done the shopping but nearly 8.00 had me searching for the domestic brown eggs, the local ones from local farmers, nowhere to be had. I could only wonder how perennials might be affected and the idea of throwing away plants just because its early in the season didn’t seem reasonable. I started scrambling for where I could place them, I hadn’t yet flushed out the whole design for our backyard. Somehow the simpler things in life are beginning to mean more to me than the great aspirations for the perfect home, sporty car, and tropical vacation. I began ruminating on how I could bring peace and security not just to myself and George but also my children. The last recession took place when they were too young to remember. Aaron had just started working with his dad at a restaurant in Kittery and I was busy keeping my own business bailed as a tsunami kept washing over me.

The point is, I guess, we survived. We’re here to ride yet another wave of scarcity and price gauging making it a field day for the oligarchs to scoop up foreclosures and securities that have fallen below what most people bought in at. I’m determined not to lean into the fear this time and while I’m not totally to blame, I can accept some responsibility in the role I’ve played as a consumer. Now is the perfect time, by the way, to purchase some of the old faithful stocks and those with a history of paying out dividends especially. Now is the time to hunker in and devise a plan to live below your means, making a game of it, of course unless you don’t have to. We can be creative, we can remember old ways, and we can call on our friends and neighbors for a little bit of fun. We’ve all accumulated a bunch of stuff over the past few decades, I’m sure everything we might need might be collecting dust down the street and vice versa. Imagine a hunt and reveal game where we trade and barter with friends to take care of things that need freshening up or replacing in our homes and lives.

My friends are fixing up a little house so they will be able to rent it. I stopped by to help them paint. The little house is coming alive with each step they take to breathe new life into it. As my friend was pulling out the old toilet I noticed the brand and what good shape it was in. The size was petite and would be perfect for a half bath in a loft. I asked them if they would sell it to me and they laughed. If I carried it away it was mine for free. I felt ecstatic, not only did I save a few hundred dollars, I saved the large piece of porcelain from being buried in a land fill. Eureka! I am getting old. Just wait for the things that will suddenly turn you on in life when they once would have disgusted you. They left it outside for me, I promised to be back with the truck. Today I managed to fit it in the back of my car. Now it represents the promise of a new day when my son and his girlfriend will be living near us, just feet away. I think my dad, the master plumber, would have been proud of me in some way. He was all about salvage and purchasing things to last.

Everything in life exists within a cycle. We have times of plenty and turns with scarcity. Life can feel hopeless and all we want to do is surrender and hand over our joy. It’s natural to feel defeated when the cards are stacked against you with no chance of change in the forecast. I wonder how many people on our planet have been shuddering this same storm for longer than we can imagine. I imagine it feels like forever when it’s only been a drop in the bucket for most of us. I tell myself that our system is broken and change needs to happen in order for things to be reconsidered and built in a way that works for the people and not just a fortunate few. I remind myself that change is always messy and chaotic before it clears and becomes settled into something new. I anchor myself in the places that feel safe and can shelter me from the storm, what ever that may look and feel like when it finally hits.

Today, I did what I could. I dug out my Hostas and placed each one in a 5 gallon bucket. They will live another day and most likely continue to thrive in a new time and space regardless of what maybe happening around them. They will feel the cool breeze of a new day, lift their leaves through the dappled shade to any sun they can catch and do what they do best, be a plant. Until then they’re going to have to hide out in mud buckets for a bit. If progress is beautiful than feeling restless is the fountain of youth.

Sometimes the best we can do is to be human and by definition that means flawed.

Let’s be kind to ourselves and not give away our joy and peace of mind, it’s the one priceless thing that no one can take unless we give it over.

Hostas in waiting

Same space, just different time. The mud buckets are housing the Hostas in the first two pictures. I wintered the two buckets of hibiscus in our living room in the windows with lots of sun.