Long Walks On Leafy Streets

6/10/2014 Peabody Street NW, Washington, DC
Last wednesday was quite a warm day. I was feeling somewhat lethargic. On the previous night I had driven to BWI to pick up Nicole at 1 am. She was returning from a  conference in New Mexico. By the way New Mexico is apparently really beautiful and spiritually nourishing.
By the time we got home it was 2 am. I then returned the zipcar and biked home. The tire with the patched up tube worked fine. It had been a long time since I biked at such a late hour. The roads were very quiet and the air was cool. If it hadn't been so late I would have enjoyed the 10 minute ride a little more.
Anyway, by the time I went to bed it was 4 am and I woke up around 10 feeling groggy with a mild headache. After lunch I walked to the bus stop around 1 pm. The sun was bright and the air was warm. Summer was here! I tried to find as much shade as possible while walking.
After about half an hour I reached the bus stop at Georgia ave and Piney Branch Road. The headache was still there but the slow mindful walk helped me enjoy the sunshine and the warmth instead of feeling uncomfortable. As in winter, getting out is the difficult part. Once you get the body adjusted to the air outside you feel fine.
On thursday morning I finished transplanting the chili pepper and zucchini seedlings from the pots in the porch to the backyard. It took me about 3 hours to prepare the ground and plant the seedlings. I planted a total of 17 zucchinis and 46 chili peppers. I hope all of them grow up properly! At first I was rushing because I wanted to get to my mathematical work quickly. It was also tiresome work, digging up the earth, spreading the compost/mulch and so on. But towards the end the mind calmed down and all the noisy thoughts subsided. I was able to enjoy the cool morning breeze and working with the earth and the grass and the seedlings.
I have been looking at the seedlings grow up, every morning. Some of them withered away and I replaced them with the seedlings that had not been transplanted. The starlings and squirrels run all over the backyard. Sometimes they dig up the compost/mulch around the seedlings. I guess they smell some food in it. In the process they uproot or destroy some of the seedlings. The zucchini seedlings are growing faster than the chili peppers which still have only two leaves. I haven’t had to water them the last few days because it has been raining now and then. The cranberry bush and the lone survivor among the blueberries are doing well. I cut off the dried out hibiscus and the two blueberry plants that had dried out, close to the ground. Maybe they will grow now that that I cut them off at the bottom but probably they won’t. I plan to buy and plant more bushes and maybe a fruit tree to replace them if they don’t show signs of revival by the end of this week.
On saturday Nicole and I went for a nice hike on the Rock Creek hiker biker trail. It was quite beautiful day and people were out running, biking or skating. On sunday we walked to the Takoma Park farmers’ market. They had the jazz festival going on as well as outdoor markets on Carroll Ave and Grant Ave. It was great to see people out and enjoying themselves. They had closed off part of Carroll Ave and we amused ourselves watching kids skate and people ride in pedicabs between the two markets.
Today I attended a talk about illegal logging in Peru and Liberia and how it impacts American workers. It was organized by the Sierra Club and I was joined by some members of the nature lovers’ meetup. It was disheartening to hear about the deforestation as well as the suffering of the people living in the forests. But it was great to hear that something is being done about it.

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