All the Greens

winter wonders

Sometimes I wish I was a lizard. I could live under a conch shell in the garden. I would be able to climb up fence posts and catch flies as big as my head. I would be in the green of the garden all day long with my only worry the occasional hunt lion stalking me.

But I’m not a lizard. I can meander to the garden and enjoy the greens every day. Some days are warm enough to instill worry for the tender potted seedlings that Tom has brought down to harden. Today some baby tomato plants got sunburned! And some days are cold enough to remind us that those seedlings need to be brought in the house because frost will kill ‘em.

This was a recuperation day for me. I couldn’t just sit around, though. So I chopped mustard greens before they all bolt. Several are ready to blossom already. And I cut turnip greens and lettuces for a big salad. The freezer welcomed a few gallons more of mustard and the salad was delicious. We worked on finishing the greens quiche and the lasagna. And had sourdough banana bread for dessert.

Seems crazy, but I panic over the thought of running out of greens, even though I know we have enough in the garden to last til spring. And well, that 5’ chest freezer is half filled with this season’s greens. All the greens are so delicious. All the greens are so green. Such different shades of green. I don’t think any two plants are exactly the same shade. But, they’re all green. Except for the stems of the rainbow chard. They’re red and yellow and purple. And the turnips themselves. They’re purple and white and pale green and white. PS: that white lady turnip grated on the salad was lurvley this evening. If I were a lizard, I wouldn’t worry about running out of greens. I would have conch shells to sleep in. I would have fence posts to climb. And I would count on the people in the house to grow things that I could hide in, because I could turn green or brown at a moment’s notice.

In this lifetime, I won’t be experiencing life as a lizard. I know. But I can dream. Can’t you imagine how freeing it would feel? I mean, there are always bugs to eat, and always more lizards to hang with. You wouldn’t have to wear dumb clothes or drive a dumb truck, or pay dumb bills, or vote for dumb politicians. Your worries wouldn’t be human ones. I imagine that would be nice. And in the winter you would have all those greens to hide in and on and under and your skin would turn the same shade, no matter which green you were on, you could turn exactly that shade.

I think it would be cool. But I don’t even know if lizards can see color. How cruel if they can’t. I don’t want to think of that. How would that make sense?

At any rate, I can see all the greens. I scribbled out a few, limited by my neocolors, of course, but, here are some of the greens of the greens.