The Fruit We Are Leaving Behind Monday Morning Check-In Post
How Are YOU??!!
The first thing Jon did after unpacking the house here fifteen years ago was dig up the front yard and put in a vegetable garden. It was glorious. He is a natural farmer/grower with innate instincts which were cultivated by working as a Harvest Manager for Steve, the farmer of Farmer and the Cook, for a time. We had picking rights, and if we were in need we could drive the mile and a half and load up. Steve is a magician when it comes to vegetables, fruits, flowers, herbs, and other things as well.
They had an issue years ago with a subletter and once they’d been removed Jon and I went in and did a space-clearing ritual for them. I followed that up with three channeling events in that part of their building. It harkened back to my times channeling at “Bety’s Tacos” in Encinitas (also thrice), both experiences were gateways for me in my work. (Mental note: food and channeling, look for that in Chicago).
Once Zoey arrived as an eight-week-old puppy, it became clear that she needed the space, and she took over the front yard as the garden shrank down over a couple of years to nothing but a big dog playground. She was a maniac back then who needed three adventures a day to satisfy her energy levels.
Then the drought came, and we lost the rose bushes in front and much of the rest of our greenery turning our yard into a mulch-covered small dog park as our pack grew.
In the fall of 2019, after The Smurf died, we seriously considered leaving this house. Ojai was already out of reach due to rising rent costs, so I began to fixate on Oregon or Washington or Maine with New Mexico floating in there as well. Then COVID hit and all thoughts of leaving receded into the background as we holed up here in the safety of this house and the less populated environment of the valley while everything changed.
Long-time neighbors and friends left and new people moved onto our block and the rains began to fall again. Jon and I had a look at the front and decided a makeover was needed. We cleared all of the invasive vines and plants, rehabilitated the magnolia and the plum trees, and then Jon got to work buying new shrubs and bushes and flowers and fruit trees and turned our front yard into a gorgeous space once more.
I’d never had a mulberry before moving to California. They are abundant here in Ojai and Jon put a couple of mulberry bushes in. Last summer we were treated to their deliciousness as they offered us their fruit. Today the bushes are laden with so many not-yet-ripe berries, berries we will leave behind along with the plums and pomegranates and Meyer lemons and apricots and all of the beauty we have put into this space.
The rose geranium that was gifted to me last year in the form of just a few stalks has grown immensely, and it just began to flower, which it only does once a year or so. I am so happy to get to delight in its happy pink blossoms. The lavender and hot lips have also gotten huge, no more pruning by my hand this year. The weeds are starting to grow and we are just letting them do their thing.
Our furniture has all been sold or given away. All that remains is our twenty-year-old bed that we purchased the last time we lived in the apartment building on Oakley. It won’t come back with us. The movers arrive tomorrow, then our neighbor who hauls unneeded items away, along with someone to sweep and mop and clean up the house which has turned back into an all-white and colorless thing.
Last night we ate our final dinner at the Farmer surrounded by friends and filled to the brim once more with love and support. Tonight we’ll do it again at Pinyon Ojai with another group of fabulous friends.
And how am I? Well, I ran an errand to Ventura on Friday and cried the whole way down. I just opened my email and
sent me a poem he’d written for us and I am crying again as I’ll cry some more.I am excited about what is waiting to greet us and also sad and grieving this loss, my friends, California, my community, my garden, and even this house. As imperfect as it is in some ways it has been perfect for us for a long time, adjusting itself magically when we needed to do something new. None of this will be ours any longer and yet it will all go along with us in some way. We may not be able to enjoy the harvest from this garden, but we are open to the right harvest finding us at exactly the right time.
How are You? Please drop me a comment below and let me know.
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Hugs Nora and Jon. Moving on is bittersweet. I awoke on Saturday to an email giving me 90 day non renewal notice on my apartment. This will make the 3rd unwanted move in under 24 months. Sigh. I am holding on hard to “It always works out”, see our comment on “I don’t know, it’s a mystery?” from a couple weeks ago. In the back of my mind I have been contemplating a cross country move to Indiana to combine finances with my child who is working through a PhD program. Now I am searching to see what pieces fall into place.
It touches my heart that you and Jon left the land more beautiful and abundant than when you arrived. I haven’t had time to read all of your posts since you found out you would have to relocate. Last I read, your landlord or part of his family would be reclaiming the house. I hope they appreciate all you did to care for the place.
I know good byes to spaces and places can be sad and bittersweet. There have been departures when I packed, barely paused, and drove off. That was my initial move to CA driving a 1966 Dodge Dart without AC alone all across the US in May of 1980. I do think that departure was harder on my mother, but she had left her home state too so she never told me how hard it was until years later.
There were other places when I took the moment to sit alone in the space one last time. The first one I deeply recall was a space where I’d taught sewing classes starting within a few months of landing in LA. The classes were going to continue in another location. Looking back I see why it felt so important to say good bye to the space because it was there that I first met friends who are still my friends to this day.
After the movers and haul away guy have vacated the things, I encourage you and Jon to take a few minutes to honor the space. Laugh, cry, whatever feels right. I trust you will have a marvelous new chapter and thanks to the blessing of the internet you won’t be disappearing.
I send you love and blessings for safe travels and marvelous adventures💕