Planting Moon tonight. I read it is called the Buddha Moon somewhere. For some reason, I looked up my horoscope. There seems nothing but trouble for me just now. Doesn't seem fair, does it, that a Planting Moon, a Buddha Moon should be trouble? But life is trouble and suffering with wild moments of relief. Why did I have to look at my horoscope, anyway? It hasn't been good for years.
When I was in college, my roommate was dating my girlfriend's roommate. It was convenient because we changed residences all the time. My roommate and I would stay together, then my girlfriend and I would stay at my place, then we'd go to her place. I never stayed with my girlfriend's roommate, though sometimes we all stayed in the same place. It kept things interesting.
The university rented out garden plots near the agricultural college on a huge patch of land, and so each of us got one. Together, the four plots gave us more food than we could eat. We would go out in the afternoons and weed and spread chicken manure and talk to the other "farmers." I decided to plant cantaloup one year. When they came up, they flowered like crazy and I thought we would never be able to deal with all the melons we would have. But they never produced any fruit. I was flummoxed. One day at the Farmer's Market, I told a real farmer about it and he asked me if I planted with the moon over my shoulder. ?????? He said that I probably didn't and that is why the plants never produced fruit. Superstition, I thought. Crazy old country saws. But my mother grew up on a farm in Ohio, and I told her about what the farmer had said. She told me that on the farm, they always planted by the moon, sometimes working through the night to get everything in the ground.
So tonight's a planting moon. Go to the Farmer's Almanac for information. They seem to know everything. Plant corn now, it says. I wouldn't doubt it. I'm going to start reading it every day to see if I can't straighten my life out, though I've always been more romantic than practical.
I love this entry. The Farmers Almanac is very popular in New England -- I got one every year for Christmas, though it did nothing with regard to straightening out my life but I always read it cover to cover over and over ---
ReplyDeleteare there people with straightened out lives? I don't really believe it.
There was a crooked man and he walked a crooked mile,
He found a crooked sixpence upon a crooked stile.
He bought a crooked cat, which caught a crooked mouse.
And they all lived together in a little crooked house
On the romantic meter -- I'm sure I'd kill your score .
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There should be more Almanacs. The Cowboy Almanac. The Sailor's Almanac. The Almanac of the Dispossessed. The collected wisdoms, so to speak.
ReplyDeleteI may take you up on that if that is a challenge. What's the test?
some of my family planted okra under the moon...probably will be the best okra we've ever had. :)
ReplyDeleteI've already broken the romantic meter with my high score.
Well, I've broken my own heart.
ReplyDeleteokay...you win!
ReplyDelete