Spring has sprung The grass has riz I wonder where the birdies is? Wonder no more, dear reader, they’re all singing their hearts out in my jungle. Waking up and going to bed in my barn/house-is like waking up in
Spring has sprung
The grass has riz
I wonder where the birdies is?
Wonder no more, dear reader, they’re all singing their hearts out in my jungle. Waking up and going to bed in my barn/house-is like waking up in an aviary. A feathered chorale fills the air with perfumed sound. If I could cage several in happy cages and install one in every household on Kauai the happiness factor would rise 1,000 percent.
Another clue about health and happiness on Kauai — anywhere for that matter — is the importance of green plants in your life. I’ve read that it is most important for the human eye to see green living things, but what I know is: First came the grass, then came the trees, then came life on planet Earth, our home.
We all know green living plants are the best photosynthsizers. They turn carbon dioxide into oxygen. A day spent in the woods or in a tree strewn park adds years to your life. Lying down on a clean, green lawn or meadow can, if you allow it, fill you heart with joy. Add bird songs, blue skies, a sweet pineapple juice, rain and sunshine, maybe a good book and you have everything you need. It’s a universal truth. Try it.
Maybe part of what made my 83-year-old journey possible were the years I spent riding in those long, tall gloriously green fields of sugar cane. I was out there five days a week. My leopard, Beauregard, was a union horse-with the field hands and the mules. They loved us. We loved them back. Here is a really good suggestion about making your life better. Grow house plants. Honest. Find a container — pottery, ceramic, porcelain, glass or plastic. Fill it full of the good Earth. Potting soil isn’t that expensive and a bag goes a long way. I’ll be happy to share some of Ari’s composted poop then find something green you like — it doesn’t have to be exotic — and stick it in feet first. There are plants that love to grow indoors. Experiment. Water it with coffee grounds, slip it some cut up pieces of banana skin, talk to it. Touch it. Dust it. Give it a name. It will become as dear to you and your family as a four-legged pet. Easier and less expensive to care for, too.
Fill your house, every room, living, bedroom, bath and kitchen, with life. Turn it into a greenhouse.
Philodendron is a good plant to start with. The name means tree lover. It’s beautiful foliage and there are several hundred species. Organic wheatgrass in little pots on table tops and clustered in corners — some plants like company — can end cut up and sprinkled on top of soups and salads. You can drink it, too. Herbs and sprouts are neat and tidy. Great aroma Mixed in with hard-boiled-free range eggs, breadless-egg-salad-sandwich style, and feel the energy.
Someone wrote, “If you want to be happy overnight, get drunk. For a weekend, get married. For a lifetime learn to garden. Indoors.
• Bettejo Dux is a Kalaheo resident and the author of “The Scam: A madcap romp through North Shore Kauai.”
