I finally managed to get my seeds in the ground last week. Between the weather, other responsibilities, and not a little bit of personal laziness, I was beginning to wonder if I’d even have a garden this year, so getting it done feels huge. I didn’t just check something off my to-do list, but instead took a definitive step toward a near future I’m desperate to live in.

Or a spring-loaded leap forward, it might be more accurate to say.

But that’s an analogy for later on in the post. Right now, since my seeds have yet to sprout, here are photos of some of the plants already in and around my home. First up? This charming lad…

This fellow is a chili pepper plant I started back about a year ago. It’s from one of those windowsill kits that comes with a jar full of dirt and a packet of seeds. “Guaranteed to grow,” they said! Well, as you can probably tell despite the poor quality of the photo, there’s only one pepper plant in the jar. That’s…kind of a problem, because self-pollination doesn’t appear to be a thing this species does. I tried doing the Q-tip thing, wherein I diddle every flower on the plant myself, but so far that hasn’t seemed to help. As a result, this leafy boi produces a lot of delightful white flowers, but no peppers.

Or does he?

Those be peppers! And I have no idea what made him decide to grow them after so long. My best guess is that the absolute storm of pollen in my neighborhood these last couple of weeks must have included some chili pepper DNA or what have you. Either that, or this species actually will self-pollinate and I’m just bad at giving plants a happy ending.

Assuming these peppers ripen, I’m definitely going to save some seeds and try growing some more plants in jars. And yes, of course, I’m going to eat some of them.

I am a little worried about something, though. This green friend of mine has been in my home for quite a while, and I love him terribly. So I’m a bit concerned that his finally producing fruits means he might be getting ready to leave the material layer of this world behind, and I don’t think I’m quite ready to say goodbye.

But let’s not dwell on that. Instead, check out some of the plant friends we’ve got outside.

White violets and ground ivy dominate large sections of my lawn and I am totally here for it. In fact, I’m here for just about every plant that isn’t grass, but I’m not allowed to rip it all out and replant the yard entirely with helpful new friends.

Still, no one has explicitly said that I couldn’t allow aggressive “weeds” to do the job for me.

Incidentally, there was a honey bee going about its business while I was outside getting this photograph, so I tried to do the paparazzi thing and chased it about with my camera for a bit.

Turns out, it’s kind of hard to take a clear picture of a rapidly-moving bee in the wind. Who knew?

Speaking of rapid motion, I’ve been feeling very “Page of Wands” lately, what with signs that the Grand Re-Opening of the World looks to be on the horizon in my neck of the woods. So it’s probably no accident that I used the Wands as my primary example in last week’s post on how to read and interpret the court cards.

Prior to 2020, I wasn’t exactly “anti-social,” but I also could comfortably go days or weeks without interacting face-to-face with people outside of my own family. Now, in 2021, after a year of “anti-social distancing,” I find that I’m positively craving real-world meetups and gatherings. Like, to the point where I’m willing to host things like potlucks, cookouts, and book clubs just to fill my yard and home with friends and friends-to-be.

It’s a wild sort of personality shift, which the Page of Wands neatly encapsulated in a reading I did this morning. I won’t go into all of the details, but in the context of that reading, the Page very much signified an enthusiastic expansion just beginning. A journey into the unknown about to be undertaken. A person ready to venture out with only a walking stick and the sort of naïve optimism and passion necessary in the world ahead. A tightly wound spring about to be let loose to do its work.

I’m leaning into this energy as hard as I can.

Based on my rough napkin math and informal surveys, it looks like just about everyone in my family and circle of friends will be up for gathering and hanging out right around the middle of June. It also looks like my city and state will have Leeroy Jenkins-ed itself wide open by that point, for better or for worse. All of which means that it will be time to break out of the bubble and start getting re-connected with the human persons around me, and not “just” the non-human ones.

I plan to fit several seasons worth of fun and friendship into this summer, with every intention of more deeply connecting with the world than I ever have before.

Maybe I’ll see you around!