Gardening, The Spaghetti squash----- Great for You.

Gardening season is here and gardeners are having a great time. Watching crops grow is fun, despite the lack of rainfall in some areas.
Early morning weeding and thinning gives a boost which lasts all day and then evening watering to soothe the crops after the day long scorching heat. The crops continue to flourish and against the odds and the gardener flourishes as well.

Yesterday, after driving around searching for a gas station to take refuge under, to escape the rain of hail pounding on the car like a panel beater, I got home to find out that the rainstorm did not go north enough to soak my garden. The heavy rainfall with hail drenched parts of central Florida and left the rest still bone dry, with brittle grass and dust.

The sight at the Hess filling station where I sought refuge was hilarious. Other motorists were doing the same thing I was trying to do, and the space under the covered portion filled up up quickly and the left over cars scrambled for spots under oak trees around the station. The pounding on my car continued even after getting refuge under the tree.
Resigning to whatever happens was the only alternative left for those who scrambled in vain. I could see drivers with bewildered looks in their eyes as the hail continued raining on cars.
I had to laugh at myself as I parked under the oak tree with hardly any protection. In short, I gave up and prayed for safety as lightning and thunder added to the excitement of the hailstorm. Excitement bordering on fear, with the background of what happened two weeks ago with tornadoes in some states. One cannot help but feel so vulnerable.

The storm according to the radio station was moving at five miles per hour and with that, it took about thirty minutes for the storm to pass. I filled up and went home expecting to see the grass soaked with rain and my crops watered for me, but to my surprise, the rain did not even cross the county line, how much more get close to my area. The grass was as dry as ever, the dust trail followed the car on the driveway, confirming the dryness was not touched. For all the pounding the car took,not a drop of water on the the garden.

The crops are still very young and holding up very well while the established crops, onugbu, nchu anwu and basil/curry are doing great. Also are the Spaghetti squash which planted themselves or rather grew where they were thrown in the compost pile and flourished. Being in a compost pile, they spread quickly and before long started flowering and bearing fruit.
I am not crazy about spaghetti squash per se, but the vigor with which they are growing made me excited about them. I had made the spaghetti squash for my mom to help keep her blood sugar within normal limits and keep her weight down. I served it with tomato and vegetable stew, usually spinach and sometimes with Jack mackerel or salmon. Other times, I served it with split green peas and and stew. Without the stew or peas, the squash had no taste and is stringy like spaghetti, and not soft. I did not like it too much although I did not search for other recipes for making it.

The seeds I threw in the compost pile germinated and spread out over the compost pile and beyond. Working in the garden this morning, after jogging to get back in shape, I counted fifteen heads of squash scattered over the squash plot, in various sizes, from new ones to football sized heads which will be ready for harvest in a matter of days, maybe few weeks.
I have to find a way to eat them and store them and that's when I started searching for recipes for spaghetti squash. With a few pounds to shed, and the tight economy, the squash will be a blessing indeed along with the other crops. Summer looks very promising for a bountiful harvest, if judging from the harvest off the plum tree and the flaming yellow flowers on the silk oak tree a few weeks ago.
It looks like the winter cold spell was just right this year and the fruit trees and plants are doing very well. I remember from years ago in the homeland,when a good harmattan spell predicted good flowering and fruit yields.

Gardening is becoming more popular as more people grow gardens to help put food on the table. I had no idea so many other people are growing some of their own food until I listened to a radio program the other day and found that it was becoming popular. Thanks to the bad economy and hardship. Gardening is fun, refreshing and gives one something to look forward to. The work, the results of the work and the harvest are great rewards and offers the opportunity for sharing.
It is hard to put in words, the satisfaction that comes from gardening, especially in the cool morning hours, before the sun is up and the air is fresh and the world is quiet. What a great time for reflecting, and renewing and refreshing of the mind.

With the profuse flowering and fruiting of the spaghetti squash, I cannot wait to see exactly what this plant has in store. In the meantime, I will just wait and see, and look up recipes for spaghetti squash. Other great squash are the buttercup, which is my favorite, and the zucchini. Those are coming up, looking great.
For gardening enthusiasts, the spaghetti squash is one vegetable to try this year. It is amazing to see those heads of squash scatter all over the place. Quite amazing and pleasing. Thanks to God for His blessings, the opportunity to plant and harvest being one of them.
Community gardens are available in some cities where people get small plots free of charge. Give it a try and enjoy the benefits and harvest. Bon Appetit.

Nwada Chinwe Enemchukwu.

Check this link.

/encrypted.google.com/search?hl=en&source=hp&biw=1304&bih=707&q=spaghetti+squash&aq=f&aqi=g10&aql=&oq=

Reflecting on Psalm 23-4

We are never alone
Even when we are alone
Even while on a slippery path
We are never left alone.
Travelling life's byways,
Passing through rough terrain
Or thrust on bad highways
We are not alone.
In times of tribulation
Or even persecution,
We are not alone.
Just as He promised
Never to leave nor forsake us,
We are never alone.
Our heavenly father is always there,
His presence surrounds us,
Reaching every depth of our being.
His love envelopes what is His
At all times, filling lives with
Peace and serenity.
We are never alone
Having a God and father
of Infinity.

We are never alone
Even when it feels like we are alone
We are never alone.
In the lowest valley,
He makes a stepping stone.
And plants our feet on it.
As He perfects His plan
Put in place for us
Even before we were born.

We are never alone
Even when alone over the years,
His perfect plan is rolled out
One step at a time,
One day at time,
One month at a time,
One year at a time.
And we are never alone.
Looking back at the winding path,
Shows a clear design
Of the work of a star designer
Perfecting His plan
Over the entire span.
Never to make us a loner.
Even when the world thinks
We are alone and defeated.
We are never alone.
His love, grace and mercy
Deliver bucketfuls of blessings
Even deep in the valley.

Counting the blessings and
Sharing the blessings
Keeps the mind at rest
With a smiling countenance,
Knowing fully well that
We are never alone.
As some may believe.
What a relief!!!


Nwada Chinwe Enemchukwu
Onye Uwa Oma
na Orlando, Florida.
Pictures by Chinwe Enemchukwu

Hands in Motion

Up they go in the air
In clusters and a pair.
On long dark green stalks,
Elegant and strong.
Reaching up as a throng
Of arms in the air.
Supporting open hands
Raised up in praise.

Large rose blooms,dark red.
Seated on thorny stalks, and
Facing sun rays
Raining down on them.
Looking like raised faces, aglow
With radiant rays on them.
In response to resounding praise
Going up from grateful hearts.

Chinwe Enemchukwu.
March 26/2011
Pictures by Chinwe Enemchukwu

Sight seeing was one of the favorite pastimes I enjoyed with my children in their younger days. During the hot summer holidays, the days usually started early with vacation bible school during early summer and then swimming lessons, tennis lessons and later tournaments and then, the left over time, was spent going sightseeing. We would pile in the car and take off, not having any particular destination in mind, but the county parks with playgrounds, the area lakes, or long drives through open land as far as the eye could see to nowhere, until we got tired and turned around to go home. We packed snacks and lunch and good music for the tape player or car radio, and games, and books, for the trip. Upon arriving home later, all would settle down and rest after a good day, put to good use. There was never a dull moment in those days.
One day, after a visit to the pediatrician for the two year old baby, we decided to go sight seeing in the Venetian gardens, a beautiful park by the Harris chain of Lakes in Leesburg. The garden is right behind the building where the doctor had his office at the time. The appointment was brief and we drove the car from the parking lot to the parking area by the park. We took drinks and left everything else in the car since we were just going to look around the park and then come back and go to the YMCA for swimming. That morning was not hot yet as a typical summer morning would be. It was very nice, comfortable and a little breezy when we took off on the grassy path along the banks of a small body of water which looked man-made. We walked, taking in the sights, the flowers, the birds , ducks gliding on the water, the other birds fishing in the water with their long pointed beaks. We just followed the clearing until we came to a view of the lake, Lake Harris and I am not sure which one, there is little Lake Harris and Lake Harris. I did not want to get too close to the lake, since I was afraid of water and alligators. We stopped at that point taking in the views and at that point the summer sun had started beating down on the previously comfortable morning.
“Time to go back and get to the YMCA” I announced. The summer rains came almost every afternoon and the pools closed. We turned around to go back to the park, but to my utter dismay, all we saw was water, the lake and no way out. We must have made turns while coming up the grassy path and could not find our way back. My first reaction was panic, but I decided to remain calm. Panicking would scare the children and we would have had a mess on our hands. There were no cell phones in those days and no way of contacting anybody or calling for help. My heart was pounding and I remained calm. I had left the baby's stroller in the car and the weight of the two year old was beginning to get to me. I had to pick him up when he got tired of walking and had put his hands up to be carried. No wrapper to carry him on my back either.
Looking around one more time for a way out, because there had to be a way out, we saw land, the park, but the only way to get to it was a rickety old bridge which looked more like a rope bridge suspended over the water. I felt a sinking feeling, fear, panic, desperation, all combined. That bridge was the only way out and I could not imagine myself going over that bridge with a baby in my arms and five other little ones in front or behind me. I was alarmed and the children picked it up from the look on my face. They looked afraid too.
I had to make the decision to relax and abolish all panic and fear and cross that bridge back to the park and to life. I said a prayer. The children waited patiently. I announced to them that we must cross the bridge to get back to the park and that we had no other choice than to cross that bridge, and we must not be afraid since there was nothing to be afraid of. Deep down, I was numb with fear, but had no choice at the time. Fear was not going to help me in that situation. I prayed out loud and asked God to take control.
We crossed that bridge and there was total silence as we walked on that rickety bridge and it seemed to have taken for ever to cross it, shaking and almost swinging, but we crossed it and as I got off the bridge, I turned around to look and I fell on the grass on my knees thanking God for bringing us back across that shaky bridge with the lake under it and all that could have gone wrong. The children told me later how scared they were but had to follow when they noticed that I was not afraid. If they only knew how afraid I was initially until I put our situation in God's able hands.
That incident is one of our favorite memories of the good old days. All that could have gone wrong are what we talk about when we discuss that day. We crossed back to the park, to the car and to the YMCA, swimming, and other fun activities. The bridge was behind us and life went on.
In life we as humans, get to rough, tight places and where there seem to be no way out of such situations. God in His infinite wisdom and mercy, always provides a bridge to get His children out and unto the abundant life He planned for them, even before they were born.
Who is like Him? Nobody. Enjoy this piece below and have a blessed day.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0Zc_VWJJoI

HOW TIME FLIES: (Jan. 28 2011)

On my way to work yesterday morning, my favorite radio station was talking about the memorial service for the astronauts who perished when the space shuttle Challenger
exploded exactly twenty five years ago. I could see it all again in my mind's eye, all the preparation, all the enthusiasm of having a school teacher in space, and the experiments she was to perform in space. The excitement was palpable. The news was all over the airwaves.
I could remember exactly where I was and what I was doing when the announcement came over the radio at work. I had just finished punching my time card and was in the locker room hanging up my winter coat. Then the news came over the airwaves and there was a hush. Then people ran upstairs through the side door to the hospital lobby where a television set was on for patients and visitors sitting around for various reasons. It was a cold morning and the news added an extra pinch of coldness to the morning.

I felt numb as Christa MCauliffe's face on television played before my eyes, as she talked to newsmen and women, on television with her class, with her husband and children and and with her elderly parents, so proud of their daughter. It could not be, I thought. It had to be a dream. It had to be the dream, but no, it was not the dream. I was standing in the locker room at work wide awake. It was real life. News kept trickling in as the morning progressed. The crash of the shuttle was caused by ice formed by the very cold weather. After efforts to clear the ice off the shuttle in Florida where the weather was usually nice during the winter, the shuttle was cleared to fly. I had never been to Florida then, but the television always showed nice sunny weather when there was snow all over the place in Boston. A co-worker was at that time selling land in Florida and the pictures in her brochures showed beautiful sunny skies and landscape, no hint of cold or ice. And now the space shuttle had just blown up in Florida because of cold weather and ice. Relocating to Florida three years later familiarized me with the occasional weather swings possible in the Sunshine state.

The explosion of Challenger brought such grief and disappointment, and then time did what it does best and people forget. It was the bombing of the Federal building in
Oklahoma city that brought back memories of such loss of human life unexpectedly, as in the case of the Challenger accident. Who would have known what was lurking in September 2001, the day the twin tower terrorist event which changed the world forever happened. Each time I travel through an airport now, I remember the guys who gave us the gift of airport security checks and reflect on the days, when one could run to the gate from the check-in counter and barely make it to get on a flight and when people could come to the airport and park just to watch airplanes land and take off. The good old days.

Humans beings will continue to do the best in their power tp prevent accidents and mass deaths. Once in a while,they will fail and terrible things happen and cause serious pain and damage and disappointment and always, God helps the human spirit to heal and go on. The crew of the space shuttle Challenger, a group of trail blazers, a number of firsts, lost their lives that fateful cold morning of January 28th 1986. Twenty five years already and the heart broken families have mended, built memorials and moved on with their lives.May the souls of their dearly departed continue to rest in peace. Amen!!!

Chinwe Enemchukwu
Jan 28 2011.

CONFIDENCE------- Adieu Chidi Nwosu

Cut down in the prime of life
Ousted violently from the stage
Not even forty years of age
Fallen, but never to be forgotten.
Inspired to lead the down trodden
Down a slippery, rough terrain, but now
Enveloped in God's loving hands
Never to know strife again, but then
Consider a young wife and baby left behind
Encircled by deep sorrow, loss and despair.

But then---

Confidence--- firm belief, trust, reliance---
On God, the Almighty, father of the fatherless-
Whom His servant had fearlessly believed and confessed,
Will come through for the beloved wife and child-
When they are held up and comforted by God's earthly hands-

You and I--- even in our own sorrow---

must make sure they come through, tough prospect though-
Attainable by standing on God's promises and truth, through
being His mouth, hands,feet and influence, for them, with all
Confidence.

Adieu Chidi !!!

Chinwe Enemchukwu
Pictures by Chinwe Enemchukwu

10-10-10------ A birthday Poem. (for celebrants)

Ten-Ten-Ten,
Triple Ten.
Tenth day, of the
Tenth month, of the
Tenth year, of the
The new millennium.
Ten fast years since gone.

On a scale of Ten,
The perfect score.
For competitive sports,
for best performance.
For grading pain on a scale,
for worst pain.
Gauging contentment,
for most content.
For scoring tests,
Ten for flying colors.

The perfect ten, hard to grab,
but nonetheless,can be
attained through great strain.
Pushing self to the limit
in sports, or facing great pain
in sickness or injury.
Burning the midnight oil,
To grab that great spoil---
The perfect score of Ten.

Ten-Ten-Ten
Triple ten
Like a triple crown,
Sits on heads today,
Birthdays, Anniversaries,
Regular,everything day.

Triple numbers come and go,
But ten-ten-ten, no ordinary set,
will soon be on the go.
Wear it like a crown, so brief you bet,
But a triple crown of a lifetime,
Nevertheless.
I wear mine, for a special day,
to be remembered forever.


Nwada (Lady) Chinwe Enemchukwu
Onye Uwa Oma
na Orlando, Florida.
10/10/2010.
Pictures by Chinwe Enemchukwu