Friday, February 28, 2014

Rain for a Draught

The rain has been bringing the birds out in the spaces between storms.  One side of the sky clears while another heavy blanket slinks in.

lavender and pineapple sage flowering

I feel like the past two months have been a counting game of weeks and duties.  Payroll and scheduling and rearranging and sleeping through off days and trying, twice to work a second temporary job.  The off time has felt glorious. Two weeks ago I stopped trying to cram in more stuff, more work, more timelines and decided just to take care of the job at hand.

As I mentioned two months ago, I have been the temporary manager at a vegan cafe in Berkeley. I went from dishwasher to manager in a few months, or, even better, food prep to manager in two weeks.  How did it go? I haven't been printing too much and if I have, I haven't been able to tell you about it. After the first week I gave up trying to avoid overtime.  Luckily the days have been getting longer too so now I occasionally leave when the sun is shining.

When it isn't raining, that is.

neglected fractal cauliflower

But I am grateful for the rain.  There is a draught here in Californina and honestly, the months without any rain at all are eerie.  Not to complain about endless sun and temperate weather but the plants have been sad.  And, in a larger sense, the entire agricultural system is under stress.  But I won't go into that here. Sufficice it to say that I have been busy and I have been learning a lot about myself.   For example, I am generally not a very confrontational person. But I have had to deal with upset and irrational people and found that I can do it, with grace and peace, even if I feel a bit queasy afterwards.  Also I have had the opportunity to say exactly what I think about the way my place of employment is run.  Which is liberating. And has me thinking about other possibilities for the future.

For now though, there is this garden, which has thrived despite neglect thanks to rain and luck.



Expect more about printing soon. I have some things I want to share with you. And I am almost ready to start talking about new projects.

the return of rhubarb