Many things rumbling about in my brain in my bloggy absence.

* Connections and why they are or aren't.
* Being an adult and making decisions you know you'll hate, yet are doing for "a good reason."
* The satisfaction of being handy and productive.

These must be touched on soonly. Stay tuned.

But for this moment, let me just say, that my garden rocks the world. We pulled our first apple and first plum off our trees this weekend. Nothing like eating your own fruit, right off the tree. I harvested radish, arugula and broccoli rabe seedlings (so the others had room to grow) and we sprinkled them on pasta salad and regular salad. Our lebanese zucchinis continue to produce prolifically, and they are just beautiful to behold. Tomatoes are starting to ripen, all the herbs are just tasty. Chilies are poppin'. Fresh cilantro! That's what I gots to say.

And, oh, the pumpkins! Amazing what happens from a little seed. On four plants, we must have at least 1-15 pumpkins started, and more on the way. They grow like gremlins overnight. It's fantastic. I feel like it's Christmas every day when I walk out into the yard.

And the flowers...don't get me started on the flowers. Let's just say the bees, the butterflies, the hummingbirds and I are very, very content.

It has become a ritual for my partner and I every night--he gets home from work and soon thereafter, one of us says, "Want to do the walk around the garden?" We ooh and aw over the day's changes, "Oh! Look at this!"--what six or seven hours of heat and 12 hours of light can do to these leafy creatures is truly miraculous.

It is contentment, that garden. Backbreaking contentment. Heh.