Spring Planting

I've been pondering on a quote that I read last week that said "it isn't important what you harvest tomorrow, it's the seeds that you plant today." Of course, being from a mixed grain farm, in order to harvest one has to plant. But there is more to the concept of just planting seeds. Quotes often refer to "if you want an apple tree, an apple seed must be planted. An oak seed will not yield an apple tree." The statement is very true and again, there is more to the philosophy than that. Let me explain from my farming point of view.

One wheat kernel will not yield a grainery full of wheat. More than one seed must be planted and too thick results in puny plants.
The condition of the soil is very important as most plants (except weeds) don't grow in gravel, blueberries do fine in acidic soils, and pretty much nothing grows in pure sand.
Rice thrives in a marsh environment and cacti thrive in drought, most other plants need moisture.
Timing: winter wheat is planted in the fall, the majority of crops are planted in the spring, and nothing is planted in the winter for various obvious reasons.
Some plants, like the bamboo, require a lot of nurturing and other plants like the Evans cherry are happiest when they are ignored.
Some plants require protection and some protect themselves quite nicely (large cacti pretty much rule the world).

Of course this whole seed planting theory reflects on the actions I take in regards to Kung Fu, my glass art, my relationships, my health, and basically my existence on this planet. When the actions are right in the right conditions, the harvest will be great, but variance from the aforementioned, will yield different results. Some pleasant surprises, and some not so much (complete hail-out) and the only way I will know is if I try, learn from my experiences, and carry my learning forward.

I have split my forms into sections and practicing those sections. Works for my mind at this time. As for my glass art, I have this intense "craving" to make a double-walled glass that can be used for an espresso cup or small glass where the liquid temperature will not be affected by the temperature of the hand. Plus it will look pretty cool. Of course if this works, it can be made into a neat wine glass. What I have to laugh at myself about where I got the inspiration for this glass from. It was the piece that I had the most resistance in making: the bowl of a pipe. Go figure. Lesson learned: go with the flow as the application is yet to be revealed. I see that "someone" has a sense of humor.
Sherri Donohue