Sunday, May 13, 2012

Mother's Day, and Planting Season

So I did it. I managed to survive my first mother's day without my mom. It wasn't even particularly painful. I got up and it was beautiful and sunny out and my dad was doing yard work, I got ready for work and worked five hours, then went to dinner with my dad, sister, Nana and Papa. I am sure that part of why today was a lot nicer than I expected was because I did not spend the day in a graveyard. We had originally planned to bury my mom today (she was cremated and cemetaries aren't open between October and May), but thing's were not quite ready. I'm sure sometime in the future I am going to have to deal with this but I prefer to just avoid thinking about it.


Dinner tonight was pretty awesome, however my father and I have been having a disagreement over whether we should do a vegetable garden or not this year. He is convinced that it is a bad idea and I am pretty set on doing one, whether he likes it or not. In fact, I'm planning on starting to get suplies tomorrow. My neighbour said I could use the back part of her yard to try and see what I can grow. My things to do list? Get supplies and equipment, measure and dig out the garden, plant, water, nurture and figure out how to keep the blasted deer from eating my plants! Hopefully I will be able to post some pictures soon, before and after pictures of the land.


It kind of upsets me that my dad is so against a garden this year, but I suspect he has his reasons. Growing up, mother's day we always got my mom some Mums, and usually talked about the garden. When I was a kid I always helped my mom with the vegetable garden but it was always her initiative and job. So between the deer eating all of our plants last year, and the memories it probably brings up for him, he just does not want to be involved but I'm not asking him to be. Just to let me try and see if I can, or not.


There is such a different mind set here, than in Georgia. I was not particularly great at helping out on outreach but I had eyes and ears and picked up a lot more than my team mates probably realized. I felt inferior to most of them doing the work, and it was definitately hard when I was trying to learn something and would be told not to do it because someone else was better at it, but the jobs were also not about me but the people we were helping. In Kobuleti, we helped our hosts plant their garden, literally in a ditch. In Svaneti, we helped weed a garden that had not been touched since it had first been planted. Around here, things are so set in order and there is the mindset that if you don't spend massive hours every day, a garden won't survive or produce... I know this is true to a degree but often just exaggerated.


Wish me luck! This picture was me avoiding the work by being the photographer :P

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