I Am A Pisces - Finding My Water Legs

I like that my astrological sign is the Pisces.  Here is what Google tells me about it: Pisces is a Water sign and as such this zodiac sign is characterized by empathy and expressed emotional capacity. Their ruling planet is Neptune, so Pisces are more intuitive than others and have an artistic talent.  

Who wouldn’t want to be empathetic, intuitive and have emotional capacity and artistic talent.  However, Pisces is a Water sign and I have never liked to be in the water.  Oh, I love being NEAR the water, watching waves beat against the rocks or the sun sinking into the blue Pacific.  I love that I live near the water.  But I have never liked to be IN the water.

Maybe it’s due to a “traumatic experience” I had as a child, when a swim instructor stepped on my little 7 year old hands hanging on for dear life to the edge of the Kent State University swimming pool, emotionally scarring me for life! 

Or maybe it’s due to stepping off a drop in the water near the pier at Brady Lake and thrashing and sputtering as someone lifted me up by my 10 year old arm and asked if I was OK. OK?  I was drowning!!  

Or maybe it’s due to having severe myopia and having everything look like a blur when I was in the water without my glasses.  

Or maybe I am just not an authentic Pisces.  

Whatever the reason, I am always the one sitting on the poolside lounge, not the one frolicking in the water.

So I looked askance when Jay suggested that we try the Water Aerobics class offered at our community pool three mornings a week.  We wanted to incorporate more exercise into our daily routine, other residents raved about it, and it was practically right outside our door. 

We went one morning as “observers” and saw that everyone wore a flotation belt so there was no need to even be able to tread water.  Everyone had smiles on their faces so they were obviously enjoying it.  The weather was so hot and the pool did look inviting.  The instructor offered us her extra equipment to try it and see if we liked it before investing in it.

So, the next class we were at the poolside at 8:20 am, in swim suits, robes and flip-flops.  

Heading for the pool...

We put on the flotation belts and prepared join the others.  

The water was heated so it was an easy entry.  There was a buoyant sense of freedom as our belts held us upright.  We were told it might feel awkward at first but that we would develop our water legs.  For one hour Susan put us through a series of exercises that included stretches to all muscle groups, aerobic big legs and big arms moving in laps around and around and around the pool, stomach crunches, leg kicks and resistance work on the arms using flotation dumbbells.  I especially liked the exercise where I looked like Esther Williams doing side stretches while hanging on to my dumbbells.  

It was quite a workout and I didn’t even have to sweat!

We have been participating in the classes for a couple weeks now.  We have our own flotation equipment and each time as we head home after the hour class we rejoice in the achy muscles and feel quite proud of ourselves.  

The best part is that Susan says I am doing very well, that I am a natural.  It must be because I am a Pisces!

I AM A Gardener - Yes, We Have No Tomatoes

August…sun…heat…TOMATOES!

If you are of Italian heritage, of course you have an “orto” (kitchen garden), and of course you grow vegetables, and of course one of those vegetables is the tomato.  Looking back over the years, my life story is "peppered" with tomato memories.

My dad was the gardener in our family and he took great pride in his tomatoes.  

My dad, circa 1958 - Isn't he proud!!

They often did not make it into the kitchen.  He would pick the tomato, wash it off with the garden hose, and hand it to me like an apple. “Here, take a bite of THIS!”  And I would…bite deeply into the red flesh, feeling the juices still warm from the sun, running down my chin.  

We often ate tomato sandwiches.  Bread, a little mayo, sliced tomatoes, sliced onion and a piece of lettuce.  Who needed baloney when you had ripe tomatoes?  

And the excess harvest?  Well a whole day was devoted to canning in the basement and its aroma would permeate the entire house.  Tomatoes were peeled, simmered with some seasoning, placed in sterile canning jars and stored for the winter months.

When I was a young mother and we bought our first house, one fine day in May my dad arrived at my house with a shovel, some fertilizer and tomato plants.  He spent the afternoon digging a small garden against the back wall where he planted my tomatoes.  There…now the house was complete.  I tended them as I was taught but it was Dad I called if I ever saw a fat juicy tomato worm!

One of the many advantages of living at Palos Verdes Shores community is the opportunity to have a plot in our community garden.  Though I have to endure the local wildlife of birds, squirrels, gophers and raccoons competing for the harvest, it still affords me the pleasure of growing tomatoes.  

My solar activate sonic gopher repellent that seems to be working!

Gino and Jessie love to go down to the garden to “help” me.  

"I can help you, Mima! Let me do it!"

This year we purchased 7 plants from Laurel's Heirloom Tomato Plants in Lomita.

Jay does the dig and carry!

All planted!

 I have spent the last few weeks reaping what I have sown!  

Just one day's pickings!

Some ripening on the window sill.

In addition to making some favorite seasonal recipes and freezing fresh sauce for winter months I have had the joy of sharing some of the bounty with neighbors and grounds keepers.

Ahhh - gazpacho!

Fresh tomato salad.

Both sets of grandparents had “orto”s so it is very natural for me to follow suit.  They didn’t spend time worrying about a lovely manicured lawn.  To them, it made no sense to spend your time, money and energy in growing something you could not eat!   

It is only now, in my golden years, that I am beginning to grow something other than vegetables and I take delight in watching the Monarch butterflies circling my glorious milkweed bushes. 

My milkweed in full bloom.

A visiting Monarch butterfly.

Gino looks for caterpillars every time he comes over!  I hope this one sticks around long enough for him to see it!

And...a monarch caterpillar that we are praying makes it into a cocoon.

And the cycle of life continues.....