a cause for celebration

over the past week,

i have had a reason to celebrate practically everyday.

and this has led me to reflect on the reasons

i've desired to celebrations in my life,

and how much deeper 

and how much more frequent

those desires to celebrate are now.

for example, last thursday i wanted to celebrate,

when i went out to gaze upon the few rows we had cultivated

and weeded over the past few days,

and they were absolutely thriving!

and then on friday,

i needed to celebrate

after i finished (crudely) constructing

some twenty-odd "annoy-crows"

or makeshift wooden stakes

with pie tins and c.d.'s tied to them

with hot pink nylon rope.

then sunday,

i just had to celebrate when i walked out

into our test garden

and realized that we had picnic watermelons,

long of naples squash,

spaghetti squash, hubbard squash,

and even the tail end of cucumbers,

patty pan squash,

and zucchini all ready for eating 

(and sharing with friends).

my excitement grew even more when i ran over

to the ten acres,

and pulled-up about 8 heads of spicy,

hearty arugula,

and handfuls of sweet baby cilantro!

i had a private party walking back to the farmhouse with my bounty.

now, in my college career,

i wrote a lot,

i mean a whole helluva lot.

i turned in far too many 30 and over page papers.

yet,  i don't think that i've ever felt as accomplished

as i have in the past few weeks.

this sense of deep contentment and satisfaction is new to me.

when i go to bed every night,

i'm tired not because i slept three hours the night before cramming for a midterm,

or because i drank way too much coffee and my body finally came down hard

from its caffeine rush at around 4 am 

(which still happens from time to time),

but when i go to bed,

i'm (typically) exhausted because i spent my waking hours using my body

to tend to the land, or to tackle important housework,

or to exercise so that i'll be strong enough

to repeat the first two activities in weeks to come.

everyday i find that i'm tired, but i'm also energized,

and i want to celebrate every carrot(!),

every squash, every day and 

every flavor of this experience.

you know, it's my birthday this friday,

and though in the past i might have been craving some sort of birthday festivity,

all i can think about right now is how i want to throw a party

because butternut squash is finally in season.