Magic Man

My Grandpa Fred died yesterday morning.  I keep trying to think of something awesome and profound to say about it, but really it's just sad.  He was a man of few words, but when he spoke it always seemed important.  When he smiled at me with pride my whole spirit lit up, because I knew that what I did meant something to him and that meant the world to me.  Most of what I learned about him through the years came in equal parts from other family members and from the subtleties in his body language and murmurs. I can't describe why in any tangible way, but I always just liked being around him; it made me feel special. My father gives off that same vibe, and I've always hoped that it was a trait I also inherited. The one thing I definitely got from my grandfather was his eyes.  People joke that I have the eyes of Renee Zellweger, but in reality I have the eyes of Fred Grimes through and through. I also got his nose and chin.

By the time I knew my grandfather his life was all about car repairs and orange groves, but I've heard stories about the crazy adventures, careers, and odd-ball career offers he had in his younger days.  Like, apparently he was approached by the executives of Burger King back when the chain was just getting off the ground and they were practically giving away franchises.  The story goes, and I quote, my grandfather told them that "no one would ever buy a hamburger out when they can just make one at home."  Whoops!

I have always taken a lot of pride in my Florida roots, which may seem ironic considering how many posts I've devoted to my need to move three-thousand miles away from there.  If you've ever seen the movie "Away We Go" (which you should, because it's fabulous), the place they end up at in the end, the Huckleberry Finn childhood paradise, is what Grimes Road is like in Wauchula.  That's right, there's actually a street named after my family. It's just a simple dirt road, surrounded by orange groves and littered with the houses of every Grimes who has ever resided there.

When Great Grandma Grimes passed away at the ripe young age of 99 the road lost a little bit of its magic, but when Grandpa Fred packed up and moved across town a few years ago much of the charm was lost forever.  Now, with his death, it seems as though my Florida heritage has died as well.  Most of the elders are gone now, most of the groves have been sold or destroyed, and many of the younger family members have moved to bigger cities. It seems strange to say it, but I'm really going to miss having a reason to visit Wauchula.  Honestly, Orlando is nothing compared to the simple beauty of rural Florida. I will truly miss my grandfather, and everything his home meant to me.

Secret Garden

Well, it's 12:50pm and I've been awake for hours now.  This may not seem like a big deal to my followers in Malaysia, but for anyone who knows me this marks a significant change in my normal routine.  Historically, I have not been a "morning person."  Growing up, mornings always came far too soon and were undoubtedly marked by a lot of tired groaning, yelling, and my mother ripping the sheets off of my bed in order to shock me awake.  God, I hated that.  For the past few months, however, I have been learning to appreciate the quiet that comes from waking early.  Instead of snapping out of bed with just enough time to take a 15 minute shower, run a brush through my hair, and sprint to the bus stop, I now enjoy waking slowly, brewing a fresh carafe of coffee, reading the daily news (aka Facebook), and puttering around our garden.

That's right, folks.  We have a garden!

I've always wanted to be the kind of person who has a garden.  When I was younger I would imagine my future to be in a house with a wood burning stove, a vegetable garden, fruit trees of all sorts, three chickens to provide me fresh eggs, two goats to do my yard maintenance and provide milk for cheese, and one cow to, you know, do cow-stuff.  Clearly, I don't exactly have the proper mindset to be a great farmer.  I never thought I would actually grow my own food or cook what I sewed, but the day before yesterday I actually got a chance to pull a carrot (not yet ripe, mind you.  I'm still learning.) out of one of my pots, peel it, and eat it!  It was pretty friggin' magical.  There's a sort of odd liberation that comes from the knowledge that you have the power to control your own sustenance. It's one of the things I love most about living in Portland, and only adds to my pre-existing snootiness over ingredients and food quality.

Don't get me wrong, I'm still a total chick when it comes to getting my hands dirty.  Once again, I count myself lucky for having found such a rugged manly-man to take care of the ickier things in life.  For instance, lately our brussels sprouts have been getting eaten alive by a colony of small, green caterpillars, which Christopher bravely picked off the plants one-by-one yesterday.  Sure, he then proceeded to dump the pile of caterpillars in our neighbors yard, but I won't tell if you don't. With any luck, our multitude of greens will survive the temporary infestation and produce hundreds of delicious sprouts for us to eat and trade for eggs around the neighborhood (all of our neighbors have chickens). Seriously, I know I live in the city but this is like my inner-country girl's dream come true!

Living in Portland has taught me many things about life, but the most important lesson so far, and certainly the most salient in today's message, has been the importance of finding ways to slow down and appreciate everything more.  If I weren't waking up early (well, earlier), I would miss out on the opportunity to experience the morning zen-sation of drinking my coffee and tending to my garden. I am especially looking forward to practicing my new morning-person-ness in the wintertime this year, when the sun goes down at 4:30pm.  Believe me, when you wake up at noon and are only able to really enjoy two or three hours of sunlight per day, the joy of sleeping in hardly seems worth it.  Sure, there's a certain amount of internal stigma that I associate with going to bed at 10:00pm and waking up at 7:00am (old lady much?), but I feel like I'm finally starting to get it.  Well, most of the time at least.