aLightningbug

Balcony is just two letters too many to spell, “bacon.” And bacon is yummy!

Now that I got your attention with bacon, I’ll share my ghost story.

A couple of weeks ago, I disconnected my phone from the charger in the kitchen to learn that a series of things had happened. A) a map app was open and on magnify, B) my music app had been entirely deleted, and C) my main browser had been moved from my home page to the back page of apps. Not only that but in the map app letters had been typed in.

It goes without saying, I had not opened the map app myself, I hadn’t moved my browser or deleted my music app (like serious d’uh), and I hadn’t typed anything. Everyone at home denied touching it. Even the cat. I’m no stranger to butt-dialing or -clicking, but this was pretty over the top even for that.

Really, my phone should have been locked in its normal, run-of-the-mill home page, plugged in & charging, and not much else. But that’s not at all how I found it. Because not only did all of what I already mentioned happen, but the letters that had been typed in to to the map app were the initials of someone I know who has passed on.

I’m normally pretty logical about this stuff. But that was a lot of stuff. All at once. I’m sure there’s a non-ghost explanation, right? Hackers? Super accidental-clicking? And the framed photo that spontaneously flew off my daughter’s shelf when nobody was near it probably had nothing to do with any of this. Right?

Well, ghost or not, such things have a way of making me think about life.

With my music app deleted. I had plenty of space to update the iOS on my phone. That was helpful. So I should update life more often.

And life goes on. School has been out for about three weeks now for my daughter. I managed to carefully avoid over scheduling her summer with summer camps. She finished her last dance recital for the year. She was beautiful! Now she’s relaxing. Doing yoga, science and math in Khan Academy, and generally enjoying the summer. Plus she’s learning to prepare more of her own food including cooking salmon and making beautiful yogurt parfaits which she’s happy to make for others too.

My balcony garden is slowly going strong.

I decided to plant only one or two tomato plants this year. They’re a lot of work. Growing a decent yield of full-size tomatoes is tricky in containers and especially so when you have to carry all the water. There’s no hose hookup on the balcony.

The 2017-2018 winter was harsh which meant that a lot of plants that had come back year after year previous years gave up the ghost. So I had to replant several plants. But some hearty plants laughed in the face of winter’s sting and returned to warm in the beautiful summer sun. Some plants always need replanting anyway.

Growing strong are an orange variety of sumptuous cherry tomatoes. Hot peppers. Strawberries. And I have a lot of herbs. Basil is one of those herbs that really loses something in dried form. Fresh is amazing though! Three varieties in five different containers are growing strong. Plus there’s parsley, chives, sage, and oregano. Sweet mint (which came back from last year) and a tasty surprise called Strawberry Mint which has tiny leaves that smell fruity like minted strawberries.

The bee balm from last year popped back up and this year even sprouted a flower.

I had to replant the curry plant (helichrysum italicum). Mine had been growing for years! But then winter. It’s not the kind of curry used for cooking, but I enjoy the smell when I run my fingers along the silvery leaves. Something about it is so soothing and healing. The comfrey shocked me by sprouting leaves out of what looked like a totally dead pot of soil and then sending up long stems dotted with buds that bloomed into clusters of jellyfish shaped, lilac colored flowers.

Lemon Balm grew back from last year too and it has tiny yellow and white flowers this year. As do the Japanese giant mustard greens which replanted themselves from seed.

I love being able to grab a handful of fresh herbs and adding them to whatever dish I’m cooking or tea I’m steeping.

Ghosts are wild, but a flavorful life is living!