What if you could bottle sunshine?
She Said: Forget Prozac and all those other happy pills--just give me sunshine. Seriously, it's no wonder the suicide rate is so high in the Pacific Northwest. We spend half the year under a thick cover of damp gray. Sure, it's the reason this region is lush, green and beautiful, but from November to May I can barely bring myself to leave the house to see any of that botanical beauty. But when the sun comes out, it's bliss.
This weekend was amazing. I awoke Saturday morning to sunny skies and opened every curtain in the house. All the plants in our garden turned toward the glowing, life-giving orb, rejoicing in its warmth and energy. That was enough to make me smile, but our plans for the day made me positively giddy. Saturday was Eureka's 42nd annual Rhododendron Parade and, as if that weren't enough, opening day of the Arcata Farmers Market. Oh happy day!
We drove to Henderson Center to watch some of the parade. I must admit, I've never been to a parade in my life and I don't watch them on TV. They've never really interested me. But we were both invested in this one; Tony, because he helped decorate his company's float and me, because I was on the planning committee. The Rhody Parade is a huge deal in Eureka, especially this year because it almost didn't happen and the community came together to pull it off. It was fun to watch for a while, but Farmers Market was calling, so we didn't stay to see all 70 entries. (For more on the Rhody parade, click here, here, or visit times-standard.com.)
I love Arcata in the spring and summertime. Farmers Market every Saturday, happy people on the Plaza and sun, glorious sun! (And starting in June, Crabs baseball games!) We meandered from stand to stand in our warm-weather wear, buying seeds, starter plants and organic veggies. We stopped in for a beer at Sidelines and a cheerful fellow said to me, "Your bag has a leek." :)
We returned home and ate lunch in the backyard, surrounded by beautiful blooming rhododendrons, camellias, rock rose, lavender and hibiscus. Uncertain how long the sunny weather would last, I eagerly planted cucumbers, zucchini, green beans, spinach, basil, tomatoes and a mixed basket of mystery seeds. The mystery isn't so much what the seeds are, it's what will grow. There was a stand at the Market selling strawberry baskets filled with a variety of things: garlic, a budding potato, sunflower, pumpkin and a mish-mash of other little seeds. The vendor instructed us to dig a hole in the ground about the size of the basket, dump it all in there and see what happens. "Don't put the basket in there, though," he said. Really? Because I thought it would be a great idea to plant a plastic strawberry basket in my organic vegetable garden. Maybe it would grow plastic strawberries.
To give the perfect day a perfect ending, we had a backyard campout. We pitched the tent, lit the tiki torches, cooked dinner on the propane stove and let Casey sleep outside with us. I felt like a kid again. One of these days we'll do that with our kids and they'll think their parents are really fun. And if they're anything like I was as a child, they'll never want to sleep inside again.