OGT DAILY Day One Hundred and Five SPRING CLEANING

An abundance of good things today.   Where to start?   Being able to actually stretch this morning without groaning for starters.  Then spring cleaning for sure.   There comes a time each April when the weather is warm, the grass gets long and the winter detritus and spring mud make the yard look like a poor farm in Appalachia.  Then it is time for cleaning and I always start with the front garden.

Despite the deer eating 3/4 of the 100 tulips I planted last fall, there is still a line up of rainbow hues dead center in my garden.  I spent most of the day weeding, cutting out old limbs in the roses and planting petunias.   

Speaking of rainbows: I went from the garden to the gallery to sit for a few hours for the new show of Mitch Goldberg and Susan Freidman - collage and photo work.  Opening is tomorrow at The Upstream 2-5 pm in Hastings.  You never know who is going to walk in that door and you can end up having the most interesting conversations.   A guy named Andy ended up talking my ear off about his years getting arrested as an activist.  He was kind of on the edge, maybe homeless, maybe struggling with mental illness, but highly entertaining.   Rather than get my hackles up and ignore him because I'm trying to get a story written by tomorrow, I decide to listen and he starts to tell me his adventures with the Rainbow Gathering.   For those who don't know the Rainbow Gatherings have been happening since the 70's and are loosely arranged groups of hippies, activists, yogis and others who gather in National parks for festival of love, music and sharing.  His encounters bordered on the mystical - chance meetings and minding reading.   Andy's a man who has been arrested many times for protesting environmental damages (e.g Standing Rock.)  

To that end thousands marched to day in DC and NY and many cities around the global to support awareness of climate change despite the current administrations denials.   I applaud anyone who marched and know we will do it again.

My environmental efforts were limited to my front garden.  I ended the day by going to hear Canadian David Boulanger and Dane Maja  \Jacobsen play a fusion folk fiddle set at Purpl a venue in Hastings.  It was a mixture of Cajun, Quebecquois, and Danish tunes that was delightful.  They are a charming duo complete with Danish folk songs about foxes stealing geese.  Makes me want to start fiddling again.