Judith Browning

The last wolf hurried toward me
through the ruined city
and I heard his baying echoes
down the steep smashed warrens
of Montgomery Street and past
the ruby-crowned highrises
left standing
their lighted elevators useless
Passing the flicking red and green
of traffic signals
baying his way eastward
in the mystery of his wild loping gait
closer the sounds in the deadly night
through clutter and rubble of quiet blocks
I hear his voice ascending the hill
and at last his low whine as he came
floor by empty floor to the room
where I sat
in my narrow bed looking west, waiting
I heard him snuffle at the door and
I watched
He trotted across the floor
he laid his long gray muzzle
on the spare white spread
and his eyes burned yellow
his small dotted eyebrows quivered
Yes, I said.
I know what they have done.

~Mary TallMountain
(1918-1994, Native Alaskan writer and elder)

thanks Tommy and Doug!

I don't have a lot of places I would use it so doubt I'll wear out the blade.
I had thought it would need to be slicing sharp in order to çut the plants off?

I have an aversion to regular hoeing after summers 'walking beans' in high school so rarely use one.

This looks like it would cut off the plants and lay it down nicely, even tuck it under the soil a little.....maybe?

thanks Christopher!

Is the bevel on the top or bottom of the blades?

Sharpen like a sickle with the bevel on top?

We use 'water only' frequently, especially summertime.

Otherwise I mix up a gallon of hot water with washing soda (3-4 cups?) and use a cup to 2 cups of that liquid in a load depending on what's in the load of wash and the size.

Washing soda won't dissolve well in cold water and that's all we use in the machine so liquiding first works for us.

We liked soap nuts but they got expensive.
I didn't like the smell of yucca root but it didn't linger in the clothes.
Have been intending to try ivy leaves as suggested here somewhere.

We don't use anything but water when the water is diverted to the gardens though.

found this at my favorite thrift store yesterday!

The handle is very dry, begging for some linseed oil and has a bit of a curve at the top that may or may not be intended or useful?

The blade is dull, almost as though it was never sharp?

How best to sharpen?

I've never used one before but have been interested in trying if it works as I imagine by just cutting off plants just below the surface of the soil?

any thoughts are most welcome!

I sometimes forget
that I was created for Joy.
My mind is too busy.
My heart is too heavy
for me to remember
that I have been
called to dance
the sacred Dance of life.
I was created to smile
to Love
To be lifted up
And to lift others up.
O Sacred one
Untangle my feet
from all that ensnares.
Free my soul.
That we might
Dance
and that our dancing
might be contagious.

Hafiz

If you have your health,
if you still enjoy a good walk, a good meal (with all the trimmings),
if you can sleep without first taking a pill,
if birds and flowers, mountains and sea still inspire you,
you are a most fortunate individual and
you should get down on your knees morning and night and
thank the good Lord for his savin’ and keepin’ power…
If you can fall in love again and again,
if you can forgive your parents for the crime of bringing you into the world,
if you are content to get nowhere, just take each day as it comes,
if you can forgive as well as forget,
if you can keep from growing sour, surly, bitter and cynical, man you’ve got it half licked.

Henry Miller  
(December 26, 1891–June 7, 1980)
American novelist, short story writer and essayist

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Miller

I flew twice in 1996 that was to do with an emergency of my sister's.
...and once in 1968 for a trip paid for by my best friends parents so she would not have to go alone....we had a great time in New York City.

and that's enough flying for a lifetime.

I'd take a train trip any day though!

thanks May!

I'll try to keep track of cuttings from plants that had gone to seed and those that have not.
and some nitrogen for sure!

thank you Joao!

that's what I was hoping for.

I did let some of these bloom but not all and I don"t think any made seed.

I'll go ahead and do the cuttings and see what happens!