Signs Around Town (Excerpt)


In response to requests, here are some photos of the garden in its current state.
The vine on the left is grapes–there are many dozens of bunches forming. The vine on the right is a kiwi. I planted it four years ago, and finally there are some fruits–at most a couple dozen, but it’s a start. There aren’t enough strawberries to bring inside, but there are always a couple to eat when I am out working.
Current herbs: cilantro, basil (thai and genovese), Mexican and Greek oregano, parsley, sorrel, tarragon, lemon balm, spearmint, kentucky colonel mint, garlic chives, savory, sage, thyme, rosemary, lavender, stevia, and dill. Greens include mesclun, arugula, kale, chard, and are ready to eat now.
Snowpeas are on there way (and I ate snow pea greens with garlic scapes and herbs for dinner tonight). Beans are blossoming; cherry tomatoes and cucumbers have formed, as have a couple of zucchini and a variety of peppers. Blueberries are ripening and figs are just starting to bud on the new growth. Carrots and turnips are mostly just a promise, but I expect at least a few. Leeks and spring onions are poking through, but don’t seem to be getting along with this year’s weather patterns.
What’s growing in your garden? (Even when I lived in an efficiency apartment in school, I had herbs growing in pots. And sprouting is its own kind of gardening and only requires a kitchen counter.) A garden can be made wherever you are, if you want one enough.
Pete Seeger singing raghupati raghav raja ram before the Beatles went to India. The music and his influence lives on. What a gracious being.
Note: Adding “ji” to a name is both an honorific and an endearment.
Dear Friends,
If your inbox and your schedule has been anything like mine, you don’t need another email to read during this busy season, so I’m keeping it short.
Last gentle/therapeutic class of this session at Willow Street is Friday, December 14th. Make-ups and drop-ins, friends and family, warmly welcomed. We’ll do some strengthening and stretching and then stretch out into a series of restorative poses to honor the Willow Street tradition and to get ready for the holidays.
No William Penn House classes on either Christmas Day or New Year’s Day. Classes run through December 18th and start again on January 8th. As always, please don’t let means keep you away. The already favorable pricing for the class, with a portion of the proceeds from each student going to benefit the work of William Penn House, is just a suggested amount. The more the merrier.
Classes start again with me at all locations Wednesday, January 2nd. I’ll be offering the Friday night gentle/therapeutics again at Willow Street. First class of the year is January 4th as part of Willow Street’s new $5 preview class week. To buy your $5 passes on-line and to check out the whole preview week schedule, please visit the Willow Street website. Registration for the Winter/Spring session is now open for the Friday night class; the first night of the Winter/Spring session is January 11th.
Wishing you the best of holidays–may they be full of both joyous connection and sweet time for yourself. I look forward to seeing many of you in the New Year. If the outrageous pulsation and dance of being–whether challenging or fulfilling or both–is keeping you from class, do send me a line and be in touch.
Peace and light,
Elizabeth
When I emerged from the DC Covid Center after getting the Omnicron booster and meditating for the post-vax waiting period, I emerged and saw this person meditating outside.
