Home grown, under the stars, grandpa’s journal, back to the mat

Last night I dipped into the garden again for dinner, grabbing more kale and a head of broccoli.  This is the first broccoli I have actually  cooked out of the garden.  I noticed a big difference in the color and taste versus what I have been buying in the grocery store.  Both were appreciably better coming from the back yard.

Last night I spent some time reading a journal that my uncle sent to me.  He took the time to digitize and OCR the journal my grandfather kept during his canoe trip from PA to Florida when he was a young man.

It appears to be a day to day account of the trip.  I spent about 45 minutes reading and hardly made a dent, it’s very long.  Reading grandpa’s words made me feel like I was back in a time machine in a weird way.

Grandpa’s writing style was not eloquent, it was more simple and upbeat as he described what sounded to be some harsh situations with an adjective or two before moving on to the next topic.

Food is a recurring topic in each days entries with a full description of whatever they consumed for the day.  I found some of the creativity that was used to prepare things like “johnny cakes” to be very interesting.

I wish he would have gone into some more detail about exactly how day to day things like hygiene were handled.  He mentions washing clothes and cleaning up but not exactly how it was done.

His nightly battle with “mussies”, a slang term I never heard of for mosquitoes, was a part of almost every entry I read.  I was surprised that many nights he and his buddy he was traveling with would sleep out in the open with not even a tent around them.  The tent only came out when rain was in the picture.

I read other things that surprised me, like the fact that he was a regular smoker and an instance when he referred to black people with the “n” word, a word that instantly disgusts me when used by anyone in a racist manner.  To be fair, at that time period (1930’s), the word was a normal part of the vernacular.  Still, to read grandpa use it was odd, especially based on the man I knew as a child growing up that seemed to not have an ounce of dislike for anyone.

I have a long way to go until I complete the journal of the 1300 mile trip.  It is pretty fascinating to look through a window that I never knew existed.

After my long reading session Nicki and Sadie were on either side of my computer chair, seated, staring at me.  Nicki was hungry, despite me giving her a small plate of dry food a little earlier.  I figured I would distract them by going out into the dark back yard.

After walking around I went over to the dog deck and sat there.  As I did I just started observing the night sky and the surrounding environment.  I scanned the stars, locking in on the few constellations that I can easily spot like Orion and the Dippers.  I looked with awe at the HUGE full moon that was low on the horizon.  I looked out across the property under the shadow of night and just reflected. I was out there for a long time, at least 45 minutes.

As Sadie sat pressed against me on the deck I thought about how my grandfather laid out under the bare night sky.  I looked at the dog deck and determined I could easily fit one of my inflatable mattresses on it’s surface.  I thought it would be interesting and a unique experience to sleep out there on a quiet, cool, “mussie” free night.  I’d just need to make sure to turn off the sprinklers and motion detector.  I think I’m going to do it.

Tonight I am making my return to yoga class.  I haven’t been there since November I think.  My Wednesday evenings became cluttered with both things to do and apathy for quite awhile.  I am hoping to be able to hit class at least a couple times a month to keep working on my flexibility and to quiet my mind.  Sometimes it just won’t shut up.