Moonwort in Everyday Ramblings

I walked by this plant last week, and thought hmm, a nice burst of color. On the way back I took this picture and ran it through iNaturalist. It is Lunaria Annua, also known as “Honesty”, “Silver Dollars”, “Money Plant” and the name means moon shaped. It is originally from the Balkans. It has recently started escaping from gardens and now, along with the Dead Nettle, is and early flowering plant in our distressed areas. After I found out what it is, I started seeing it in other places nearby.

It gets its name from the moon shaped translucent pods that hold the seeds. I had no idea it bloomed. I loved it when I was a kid, it grew around where we lived in Southern California and Seattle.

Part of the reason I am discovering all these new plants this year is because they are migrating northward because of climate change, and also, we have had a whole week here in prime spring with no rain (so rare). There is the fact that I am not working and am out and about more as well.

The rain is on its way back in later tonight. That means at least I won’t have to water my plot. But I will go check on it. My nasturtiums, carrots and giant chard are all up from seed. Very exciting.

My plot neighbor has a lemon balm plant growing like mad and I have been instructed to help myself.

There is this plant growing back towards the fence, so not officially in my plot but in my area of responsibility. I almost pulled in out on one of my first visits, all sticks and about 2 ft high. It turns out it is a Highbush blueberry! How cool is that. It is flowering now. Kes says she thinks I may need another bush or two around for it to fruit but we shall see. Next visit I will be weeding under it.

You know how when you have read say 12 books in a series that you are just mad about and look forward to the next one? How you envy people who are reading them and are absorbed by them for the first time? That is how I feel about this garden thing. I am finding out things though that my garden friends don’t know so it is all good. They are tolerating me well.

Wednesday I did take the bus for the first time since early last November. And yesterday Charity, who has been working on making her balcony an oasis is this urban environment had me over to see her beautiful new pots and plants and paint job and once inside I took off my mask.

I walked a lot at the beach and as one knows the ground is uneven on the sand and even with my strong ankles, I could feel it when I got home. That and the walking over the small mountain behind me to get to the grocery and the most intense allergy season I have ever encountered because of the lack of rain I was zonked yesterday.

After our indoor visit, Charity and I did what for us was an easy 5-mile walking loop down by the river instead. She had taken my young upstairs neighbor to a drive thru vaccination site for her first Pfizer shot the day before. Everybody’s experiences getting vaccinated are so different. They had a good time.

Last year walking with Charity we ended up taking the “wrong” trail and went to the highest point in the city where we had a spectacular view. Much to my surprise she wants to go back. She wants the effort of all that up. I planned out a deliberate alternate route yesterday, but I was plain too tired to do it.

And next Monday we are all three going to the Japanese Garden.

These are little cautious steps out into the world of the vaccinated and the not vaccinated. I didn’t start wearing masks when I was walking alone last year until mid-May. Now I need to learn how to reverse that. It is kind of nerve wracking because over the last two days we have had close to 1,000 new cases a day!

But they are learning more about transmission. Face to face talking indoors seems to be the prime vector for passing the virus on.

We have been worried because we had not heard from our niece and great niece since February and even though I inquired, Kes didn’t want me to share any info with them about her rare bone marrow disorder. (She is doing fine, by the way, this is a chronic thing she is learning to manage and treat.) Yesterday she got a response and although things are challenging, they are hanging in there. Hearing from them is a big relief.

There is so much darkness and difficulty out there, so much grief and anxiety. I know I need to work on being patient and kind and leaving judgment out of the equation. I will try to do that for today. How can I be kind…today.

Opening the door for the cats would be a good way to start.

Last updated April 23, 2021