Four Points of Light
Floret Flower Frenzy, Tracy Chapman, Babies, A Boat Ride Back In Time. Plus: A Farmer Report.
I took my beauty and joy where I could get it this week. It didn’t necessarily offer itself up to me. I had to go looking between the hours and minutes, underneath the excuses, and on top of the bureau of nagging tasks.
But when the week was over, I looked back and saw points of light. I strung them together like fairy lights and stowed them in an imaginary mason jar to remind me of my own power to reach out for a boost when I need it.
Sometimes it doesn’t take more than a beautiful flower, a moving song, or a cute baby to turn my mood around. Sometimes it takes a bit more effort – like taking a day off work to spend a few hours with an old friend.
The Floret Flower Seed Frenzy
I might as well have been a teenager waiting to snag Taylor Swift concert tickets, I was so excited. It was 11:59 a.m. on Tuesday, my heart was beating fast, and my fingers hovered over the keyboard. My best friend and I had already texted each other, “Good luck!” and when the clock turned over to 12:00 noon, I quickly added seven items to my shopping cart and clicked “check out.” A flashing message then told me I had a one- to two-minute waiting time for my order to be processed.
Sure enough, in only a couple minutes, my order of seven packets of Floret Originals flower seeds (yes seeds!) was processed. I was so amazed that I had actually gotten what I wanted that I went back on and ordered two more packets – and got those, too.
What could possibly be so thrilling about ordering seeds – and why was I worried I wouldn’t get some? The seeds are Floret Farm’s first release of original flower varieties they have been breeding for seven years. Some of the Instagram posts leading up to the release of the seeds had 30,000 likes on them; the anticipation was so ramped up among flower folks that the farm wisely decided to limit each customer to five packets of each variety.
By doing this, they threw all of us home gardeners a gift; instead of letting big farms buy up a lot of stock, they let us little guys get a chance to grow zinnias in the most amazingly beautiful soft pastel colors, colors that seem as if they might have been conjured out of Floret farmer Erin Benzakein’s dreams, colors rarely or never seen before in zinnias. Zinnia “Golden Hour” and zinnia “Precious Metals” are so appealing to me that just looking at the photos of them makes me happy.
Erin’s work with celosia is inspiring, too, and I snagged celosia “Spun Sugar” on the first round. But I’m so excited about the zinnias that I may have to grow fewer dahlias to make room for all of them!
The best news for you – many of the seeds are not sold out yet. Go get some.
Tracy Chapman, Rising
Proof that the internet and social media are not all bad:
I was working, not watching the Grammys, on Sunday night, and I think it wasn’t until Monday late that I happened to be scrolling through Instagram and stumbled upon a clip posted by one of my favorite accounts, @_stillwerise.
I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.
I clicked the sound on and listened to the portion available of Tracy Chapman singing her 1980’s hit “Fast Car” with country singer Luke Combs at the Grammys.
I jumped up and brought the phone over to my husband and replayed it for him. He was really moved, even without sharing the kind of nostalgia I was feeling. Like so many other 20-somethings in the ‘80s, I leaned hard into Tracy Chapman’s eponymous first album (Spotify), knew the words to every song, listened to Fast Car over and over in my car, and was in complete awe of her uniquely honest and strong voice.
Of course, I didn’t realize that the rest of the world had been reveling in this performance over the previous 24 hours. More recaps, clips, and reviews began to surface on my phone.
The next day, I scoured the internet looking for a video of the whole performance. I was so frustrated and disappointed that I couldn’t find it – and then elated when
posted a link to the whole performance on his Substack.I’m so happy to pass it along to you. (I’m sorry it doesn’t seem to want to embed, but the link works!)
It’s impossible not to bask in Tracy’s radiance when you watch it, but it’s also totally endearing to hear and see Luke Combs – who was nominated for a Grammy for his cover of Fast Car – thrill in performing with Tracy. Together they made it all about a great song, a mutual respect, and a musical moment with impeccable timing.
Oh, Baby!
Instagram again. I realize you’re now thinking, ‘No wonder she’s forever behind in her work, she’s always on Instagram.’ But listen, there’s another Instagram account that brings me so much joy that I don’t wait for the posts to show up in my feed. I go find them when I need a smile.
The other night, as I was marveling at another newborn baby photo by @maria_thibodeau_photography, I decided I need to share some of her photos with you - and link you to her Instagram.
So I got in touch with Maria, who also happens to shoot for the Vineyard Gazette during the summer. She was happy to share a couple recent photos of newborns with us, but I also urge you to check out all the crafty ways she swaths and cradles these babies for her photos. (Those penguins!) She has a whole room of props and loves to do the felting and sewing to make many of them. (She made the little white heart above.) Maria has two kids of her own and is admittedly crazy about babies. And I swear, she has a magic touch with them – which seems to transcend a photo and jump right into our hearts.
On the boat again, but this time…
The sun was unhinged, the harbor like glass as I boarded the boat (again) on Thursday, this time for a long-planned appointment. The day could not have been more glorious.
I have been trying for months to find time in my schedule to take a day off work and go off-Island to see a young woman who holds a very special place in my heart. Many of you who have been along for the ride with me for years remember my time with my ex-partner’s little girl, who was 7 years old when I first met her. She is now 21.
I didn’t get to see her much throughout the pandemic, and time has a way of stretching on. So when the new year turned, I just picked a day and set up the time with her. On Thursday over lunch we fell right back into our old rapport, an astounding affirmation, to me anyway, of how bonds are cemented early in life, and how lucky I was to have this bright star in the midst of what turned out to be a very challenging situation for me. I hope we will always be friends, because I know that seeing her, for me, is pure joy.
Farmer Report
My apologies to those of you who were looking for updates on Farmer last week. In my last (paid) post, I mentioned that his vet had found a lump. Then I linked to the previous (free) post about Farmer (just to give folks background on him), but that link was broken. And some of you thought I was linking to more information about the lump.
I don’t have a whole lot more information yet, but here is the situation so far: Farmer is having a biopsy this coming Thursday for a lump (not a cyst) found in one of his anal sacs. If the lump is cancerous it is most likely anal gland adenocarcinoma. I’m not even going to link to what that is, because it isn’t good and treatment would very likely be complicated by Farmer’s age (13 on Valentine’s Day). And I’m going to hold out hope that it is something else. But I promise I will keep you posted. He’s such a good boy!
Thank You For One Year On Substack
I also want to offer my sincere thanks to everyone who’s been renewing their annual paid subscriptions to Sixburnersue. It means so much. I’ve been on Substack for a little over a year now, and I’m gradually making progress on my numbers; the newsletter is now bringing in just a wee bit more annual income than the freelance writing I do for magazines (okay, which isn’t exactly big bucks to begin with).
I think if I could double my Substack paid numbers, I’d have the confidence I need to talk with my employers about shifting my office job from full-time to part-time, so that I could devote the other half of my work time to freelance writing. It’s good to have a goal, but in the chicken-and-egg scenario, devoting more energy to the paid newsletter requires more time (in order to deliver you useful content), so that’s a conundrum! But it’s also an opportunity – along the lines of what I was writing about above, you have to look between the cracks for the good stuff.
In the meantime, I want you to know that every one of you, paid subscribers and free subscribers alike, is a point of light as far as I’m concerned.
You are all part of my string of fairy lights. Thank you.
Carrot Cupcakes and Bowl Bets
Lastly, if you’re not yet a Cook the Vineyard subscriber – and IMHO I think you should be! – I wanted to let you know that this week’s newsletter is the free edition so hop over there and have a look at all the delicious recipes, including Abby Dodge’s fabulous new Carrot Cake Cupcakes, as well as five chocolate desserts and some ideas for today’s Super Bowl if you’re not yet all set.
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Whew! Got a couple of Zinnia seed packs - thanks for the reminder! Hope all goes well with Farmer 🤞 cancer in dogs is such a sad diagnosis, there is no easy way through it.
Thank you, Susie! I still have two Goldens. Rosie will be 12 in April, and every day is a gift. I pray that she stays well as long as possible and doesn’t get cancer. Lucy is 7 and 1/2. Thank you again - my best to you, Susie!