MARCIA
POWELL -- Blog article (#17) – April 12, 2015 –
“The
Winter of Less Cold and Less Ugly”
A
year ago I titled my blog “The Winter of Cold and Ugly.”
Fortunately this winter was less severe, and, thanks to last summer's
efforts to beautify the property, a little less ugly.
Never
has the arrival of spring meant so much to me. For the first time
(this lifetime), I planted some bulbs in the fall, and now they are
just starting to flower! So exciting!
In
my last blog of November 17, I had spent the summer pulling and
mulching the dreaded “superweeds.” Throughout the winter, as I
received more truckloads of wood chips, I would “suit up” and
spread the mulch over the ½ acre around the house—my personal
“playground.” Got inspired one day while mulching and wrote a
3-page humorous essay on the art and science of mulching relating to
my B.A. and M.S. degrees. Let me know if you'd like to read it.
I'm told it is funny...
One
very cold day, a new horse-owning friend brought me a trailer load of
horse manure. Had to wait a few weeks until the compost in my two
big compost bins unfroze enough to add the manure. Manure is like
gold to a farmer!
How's
my WPP (Woody Perennial Polyculture)? Looks like most of the plants
survived the winter. There are some berry rootstocks that are
iffy—I'm waiting to see if some root suckers show up. Last
Tuesday, I paid a professional to graft scions (a detached shoot or
twig containing buds from a woody plant, used in grafting) onto the
fruit trees so that they will bear edible fruit. He then instructed
me to pull the mulch away from the rootstocks to prevent fire blight.
Yikes! (The pic is of a grafted apple rootstock, with budding berry
plants in the background.)
I
donated $15 to the Arbor Foundation and received 10 blue spruce
seedlings. Sister Jane and grand-niece Katie helped me plant them
down at the pond where they will be sheltered for a year or so; then
I will transplant them to my property.
The
friendship with Dave Christian did not evolve into a relationship,
but we parted good friends. I posted a local ad and currently have
a very nice married man renting the master bedroom for 4 nights a
week to lessen his commute. I AM now looking for a more permanent
companion—either gender—who would enjoy sharing a lifestyle such
as mine. If you know anyone, please have them contact me.
Mid
March I drove to Clearwater to receive a few days of counseling.
Managed to arrive just in time to catch the end of the choir
rehearsal. Good to connect with them again. Was able to attend an
inspiring graduation event—heard Kelly Preston speak, no less! I'm
now set up for the rundowns re survival, which I plan to do next
January.
A
friend had told me about the book “The Fight for Immortality” by
Peter Arthur. I was able to read most of it while in Clearwater, and
found it VERY good, especially the way he works truth into it. One
of my on-going policies is to support our artists; so I highly
recommend you buy it, read it, and then encourage others to as well.
Similary with Neal Fox's new DVD and CD entitled “Conspiracy”--truth
delivered on the aesthetic wavelength via his songs and art.
Politically,
I was one of nine Libertarians in the state who ran for an office in
the local elections held on April 7th. Living out in the
country, my only option was to run for the Ogden grade school board.
My campaigning was pretty low-key--made up my own flyers and
delivered them to the houses in Ogden (850) and Royal (350).
Introduced myself at the Ogden Village board meeting, and spoke to a
dozen people at the seniors' luncheon. Didn't win (only got 9.44% of
the votes), but it was a good learning experience and earned me some
name recognition in the community. Will probably give it another shot
two years from now.
Note
that I consider the presidential elections to be pretty much a “dog
and pony show,” with the outcome being determined ahead of time by
the global elite. Thus I encourage people to concentrate on
political matters in their state, county, and city. Strengthening
the Libertarian party these days gives those disenchanted with the
D's and R's an alternative. The party IS growing, which growth also
can influence the platforms of the main parties. Blah-blah...
soapbox... blah-blah... :-)
A
few months ago I sent some messages to retirement homes about
performing, but got no responses—until the end of Feb, when the
Windsor of Savoy contacted me about doing an hour's show. I had
finally connected with a very good singer only 3 miles away from me,
and we worked up some songs. However, at the last moment her back
went out. It's an older audience, so I gathered up a bunch of
popular songs from earlier eras and played “Name that
Tune”--including some back and forth communication between them and
me. Fun all around, and the feedback was such that they plan to book
me again. Yea!
And,
of course, people continue to match up through the Affinity Exchange.
See success stories (e.g. Holly and Mike below) on home page: www.affinity-exchange.com.
Please refer your friends!
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Hope
you all are flourishing and prospering (thriving)!
Please
write and give me an update on your adventures.
Love
to all, Marcia (217) 582-2112 home (818) 552-2211
cell
