Today is my birthday.  My husband tells me that I start celebrating it on the first of the month even though it’s actually on the last day of July.  This year I tried to narrow the celebration down to a three-day weekend.  No matter how long the party is, it is always going to involve friends, gifts, and flowers.

Friday was my last work-free day, so I invited a few teacher friends over to swim. Right after they arrived it started to rain.  No worries.  I had indoor activities planned: making homemade salsa from the vegetables in my garden and hulling purple hull peas.  At one point in the day, a friend told me she was going to start referring to me as “Mother Earth” or M.E. I’m not sure if this was before or after I cooked the purple hull peas we just hulled (flavored with a jalapeno pepper from my garden) for a little snack.

My birthday celebration continued with a couple of gifts.  My friends brought me a little jewel to hang in my garden.  Shiny objects tend to keep the birds from eating all the fruit, so instead of pie pans, I’ve hung shiny decorator objects in the garden to add a little upscale style. My dog, Mae, received the next gift….a new kennel. We set the new kennel up for her, I kissed her on the nose, and said, “Happy Birthday to M.E.”

Saturday was filled with yard work.  I mowed our yard and headed across the way to mow the property that used to belong to my father-in-law.  Even though the sun was blistering, I took some time to pull a few weeds out of the flowerbeds.   I noticed our rosebush in the back yard was loaded with flowers, so I cut some to put in a hanging vase inside.  I made a note to do that more often.  I also made a note to find a place for a cut flower garden.  I believe the real Mother Earth would like that.

My birthday celebrations are changing in a good way.  At the mention of Mother Earth, I imagined a woman with a crown of herbs and long flowing gown, not a tag rag, shorts, and a tank top.  It doesn’t matter what she looks like, I am honored to be compared to her and to celebrate my birthday in her honor.

[julie]

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