I took art all four years not because that's what hippies did, and, yes, I was a hippie. There were only three choices at my high school: Cowgirl (no Jewish girl was a Cowgirl, trust me on that); Cheerleader (fat, cellulitey Jewish girls weren't Cheerleaders, trust me on that too); or Hippie. So even though there was nothing very hip about me, that's what I was.
I wasn't an artist either, yet I kept taking art, looking for a type of art I'd excell at. Turns out I was really good at macrame, though it had limited use. How many pot hangers did my mom need? A hundred? A thousand? Was she willing to mount row after row of those hook thingies in the ceiling so I could hang up lines of them in our family room? I made so many macrame pot hangers that I figured I needed something to go in them - like plants. So I got some plants. Big ones.
This soon proved to be dissatisfying for me. Big plants, I figured, were near the end of their life cycle. Someone else had grown them. There was no challenge in that! I wanted something I could grow myself. A puppy of a houseplant. Maybe a fetus of a houseplant. A four-inch pot perhaps. Or maybe a clipping from someone else's plant. Or maybe, just maybe, a seed?
So here I am, thirty plus years later, and, still fascinated with this idea of starting from scratch, I've started what I'd loosely term a "vegetable garden" in my kitchen. Right now there are tiny seedlings growing in teensy pots. I can't really tell one from the other, but so far it's looking like we're going to have bumper crops of cucumbers, tomatoes, bell peppers and strawberries. In about five years.
And in my own way, I've finally moved on from that early Hippie label, moved on past all the labels of high school. I'm a farmer now. And off to the store to buy some jute. Macrame anyone?
Am I the only one who learned how to do macrame in school? Fond memories of art classes? Do you have a green thumb? Have you ever planted a vegetable garden?
Art was my refuge.
ReplyDeleteBy my senior year, four hours of my day were spent in the art room. One as a cadet teacher..the other three were advanced art and independant study.
I love art.
No macrame for me. I do remember gymp from camp. Do they still do that? Hated art class - no good at it. No good at plants either so we have none in our house. I would love to have a veggie garden... if someone else would do the work for me!
ReplyDeleteI think that when you finally find something or things that you love you will always love them. Those loves may even branch out to lead you onto paths of other things that you love. A crazy kind of mosaic really. You didn't really love macrame but it did take you to other things that you did love. It was the catalyst. In high school, and even before, I loved music and theatre. I still do. I always wished that I had more artistic ability than I have, but you get what you get. I also loved writing as far back as high school and even earlier, I think. I also loved to read from the moment my mother put a book in my hand. Still do. Of course, other interests have come into my life. Some have spiked off of these and others have just poked their way in. But, these sit at the core and I can't imagine NOT loving them. They are as much a part of me as the sound of my voice or color of my hair.
ReplyDeleteGotta love that macrame! Is was all the rage. And to think you had quite a talent for the art.
ReplyDeleteNow, a farmer. impressive. I can't wait to hear about you composting.
Yay for vegetable gardening! Congrats on taking the leap - and I'll be curious to hear how it goes.
ReplyDeleteI, admittedly, did learn macrame. Not in school, but from an aunt. My "crafty aunt." Every summer I'd spend a week with her and we'd do different crafty projects. Macrame was fun.. but odd. And your post made me laugh thinking of it.
As a girl, I hated gardening. On the farm, my parents had a HUGE garden. And it became my job to weed the carrots and pick the beans and shuck the corn. Ugh. Chores.
But, after a few years reprieve, I was giddy to see a garden plot in our yard when we bought our house. A small little 10x30 plot of black dirt, just waiting for me. And I've discovered a love of gardening. Getting dirty. Joy at seeing the seeds sprout. Nurturing the plants and then harvesting the bounty. There's nothing like the taste of home grown tomatoes!
Good luck!
Are you kidding? I have a hard enough time keeping my silk plants looking good.
ReplyDeleteYou are too much! I was so tickled, I went so far as to macrame a watchband (early 70s) and a macrame peace sign necklace with rocks. I think my son has it. What a hilarious piece. You are too talented!
ReplyDeleteYou are too much! I was so tickled, I went so far as to macrame a watchband (early 70s) and a macrame peace sign necklace with rocks. I think my son has it. What a hilarious piece. You are too talented!
ReplyDeleteSara
I did art at school, never good at drawing or painting but I loved pottery. I was not even sure I knew exactly what macrame was so I just googled it and can tell you quite positively I never did it. I was at school in the 70's too but it was not on the curriculum in England! Good luck with your plants - to amuse my three year old we just started planting seedlings in our kitchen for baby tomatoes and sunflowers. She has lost interest but I am finding myself getting more and more enthusiastic about it all.....see you at the farmers market :-)
ReplyDeleteI have never heard of macrame. Is that bad??
ReplyDeleteOne time, before Emily was born, my husband and I had a beautiful spot to plant a garden. As suggested, we started a few plants inside (tomatoes among others), and waited for the last frost before planting them in the garden.
That was around the time that I landed in the hospital for a few days and all the plants died. They were growing so well, too! Our garden dreams were broken. Now we live in a place that does not have a yard for planting. Someday, right??
Macrame!! I remember that! We didn't do it in school but it was everywhere. My sister and I made weaving frames from cardboard and wove pocketbooks. With fringe. I can't believe I forgot that till now. And all the best women now were kinda hippie chicks back in the day. Me too!
ReplyDeleteLast year, I planted a vegetable garden in February, since our springs and summers are way too hot in Florida.
ReplyDeleteWe had tomatoes, lettuce, onions, peppers, basil, cilantro, oregano, thyme, rosemary, and strawberries.
It was a wonderful experience for the kids as well, and although I did not get a chance to do it again this spring, I am planning for next year.
Even I use to enjoy at my school days how to macrame pot handlers.Now a days there are so many articles are made using macrame.Do U have any idea about the macrame workshops being carried out?
ReplyDeleteLinda, so funny we were inspired by the same thing...who would have thunk...hippies. I love how you fell into being a hippie, but let's face it the hippie group has open membership. Peace, love and harmony. While I never made macrame plant hangers, there were many family enterprises that involved finding our artistic selves: hunting for driftwood up in Oregon to build furniture (we carted this around for twelve years never doing anything with it) and finding gems in the desert for my dad's jewelry. Oh, and then there was the stained glass I did. Thanks for bringing my hippie out today to remember and play.
ReplyDeleteI was never quite a hippie, they were too loving. I was more the cynical existentialist nihilist. But here I am these years later, loving the vegetable garden and being particularly happy and excited about composting.
ReplyDeleteWhen I boil it down, I really always was, and remain, a nerd—I've just decided that nerds are cool and so I fly my freak flag proudly.
I never did macrame, but I sure could spin a cool lanyard.
Bruce, funny you should mention that. I wasn't sure how I could fit in that I wasn't lovey-dovey enough to really be a hippie. Like that "love everyone" philosophy? I kept hyper-analyzing it. I definitely couldn't stand a bunch of people.
ReplyDeleteI was always jealous of a great lanyard!
Chris, I've never stopped loving art either. I even stole my daughter's play room when she got too old for it and turned it into "our" art room. One day I'll be an artist, somehow.
ReplyDeleteKaren, I'm afraid to ask what gymp is. My art teachers just like threw us a gigantic ball of twine and made us teach ourselves everything. Like the day they had a room-sized delivery of clay dropped off. Fun guys.
Robin, funny you mention mosaic in your comment. I actually do mosaics now but on canvas and kind of crazy portraiture. Not mosaics on tables or anything. It's hard having a hobby that involves this much broken glass!
Terry, I will not compost! I'm not really into this whole organic thing (shh, don't tell anyone!)
ReplyDeleteEva, so funny! I love having my hands in the dirt too! I've never worn gardening gloves. I tend to be a little too ambitious, though. I have to remember that I can't actually eat 50 cucumbers if they all become ripe at the same time. Truly, I'm having a hard enough time figuring out where I'll transplant them to!
Lisa, if you kill silk plants, it's not a good sign!
Macrame--that brings me back to my childhood home, a 1960s bungalow with orange shag rug and many macrame potholders. My mother and her sister got into macrame in a big way. It was the only craft that I can recall my mom doing.
ReplyDeleteI haven't gotten the macrame bug, but I have several failed knitting projects.
I can kill any plant - even a cactus given enough time. The other day my 15 y/o asked how all six kids managed to thrive. LOL!
ReplyDeleteGarden - not from seed as I never get plants but yes. I buy plants and transplant.
Delightful post. (I have a vague recollection of macrame, but never learned.)
ReplyDeleteThere is something about growing things, making things, using our hands - that is satisfying and relaxing. So keep us posted (not composted)... whether it's seedlings or other artistic endeavors.
Macrame!!! I forgot all about that! I seem to remember having those hanging potholders all over our house. Wow... flashback. As for green thumbs.. I thought I had one. When we first got to NJ we lived in military housing and I started a garden- like an English garden with different heights and textures of plants and flowers. It really was beautiful with things blooming all spring and summer and into fall. Then, we bought a house and moved and now I can grow hosta and daylilly. And who CAN"T grow those, really? Heck, we have tilled up the entire yard, added topsoil, limed it and seeded it three different times and we still can't get grass to grow. It turns out, in military housing, we just had great sunlight and awesome soil. Where I live now, the soil is sand and doesn't drain well and there are loads of trees around casting my yard in shade most of the day. We had a bunch of trees removed, but the neighbors' trees cast shadows on our yard too.
ReplyDeleteThe funny thing is, neither my husband nor I have green thumbs yet we plant a garden every year. Or, we try to plant one, rather. Occasionally, we get a tomato out of the deal. One year, our squash went crazy and produced about 100 squashlings. I finally ran out of squash recipes and had to give some away. That's when I felt I'd truly arrived. Still waiting for to feel that again ...
ReplyDeleteI kill all living plant things. I am the Plant Assassin. I am attempting, yet again, to grow an herb garden this summer. I'm already planning the Basil Funeral.
ReplyDeleteFor the last twelve years or so we've had some kind of garden. The crescendo was a 2000 square foot beauty at our old house. Herbs, veggies, flowers, berries. I miss it. Now we do container gardening because the neighboring coal fired power plant had an ash spill that covered our backyard 2 years ago. Even so, it's a treat to have our own herbs, tomatoes, beans and peppers. I don't think I could ever give it up.
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