Reading on the Radio

Last Wednesday, I read from ON THE WAY OUT, TURN OUT THE LIGHT and two new poems.  It’s a show hosted by Leonard Geminara, who has revived the WOMR program The Poets/Corner that my dear friend Jose Gouveia began and hosted for many years until shortly before he died.  The program was missed as of course he still is.  I’m glad that Len was willing to start it up again on a monthly basis. Like Jose, he knows a great number of poets as well as being one himself.

I planted seven kinds of lettuce this week, put out cilantro plants from the greenhouse and also planted arugula, garden cress, two kinds of radishes and dill.  I also transplanted some pansies and had Woody buy more. I like to grow pansies on the porch from early spring until they begin to fail in August.  I love pansies with faces and I enjoy having them on the front porch where I can see them whenever I go out that way.  We are still clearing perennial beds, but most of them are fine now.

Tree pollen really got to me this week.  in  spite of sniveling and sneezing, I did write three poems, revised them Sunday twice.  I’ve been preparing for Pesach.  Erev Pesach, the evening that begins that day, is Friday this week. I will make a Sphardic egg-fennel-cucumber salad, Woody will make a simple chicken soup with his wonderfully light matzoh balls, I’ll roast a leg of lamb.  Bonnie’s making a fruit salad for dessert.  elaine is bring gefilte fish.  One year, we tried to make gefilte fish. It was a stinking mess. Never again!  We couldn’t eat it. There will be seven of us this year.  I’ave been updating my haggadah this week.  Today Dale and I will print it out and put the covers on it. Sunday I cooked lamb shanks so that we wouldhave a shank bone for the seder.

We did nothing social this weekend, but put our energy into the gardens. Woody and I put out two kinds of broccoli and bok choi, transplanting the seedlings from the greenhouse to the main garden.  The red cabbage is not quite big enough to transplant but very soon.  Woody also planted seeds of leeks and parsnips. We are, I believe, making decent progress. We’re working only on the two upper gardens. The garden down by the road will not get pole beans and winter squash seeds and pumpkins transplanted from the greenhouse until May.

We did nothing social this weekend as we desperately wanted to get into the gardens.  it has rained so much this spring that there are many days we have not been able to plant.  I’m hoping to get beets in this week. This week, I meet my new health provider at the Wellfleet Outer Cape Health Services office. I haven’t been able to get in to my osteopath at the Harwich office as he is working on their new computer system.

I lost my beautiful witch hazel this winter.  The gypsy moths had weakened it terribly but it hong on until this harsh winter.  I will miss its February bloom of yellow flowers when absolutely nothing else shows color. The Cornellian cherry so called – it’s actually a yellow dogwood bush – is blooming furiously.  We have at least a hundred daffodils in bloom along with deep blue scilla siberica and light blue windflowers and chiondoxa.  Also some feathr white floers I planted years ago that have spread beautifully along the path to the gazebo.  I have no idea what they are.