sun rising over the next condo
birds squawking loudly and twittering and peeping and crying
pink near the horizon
hot white higher up
a beautiful day at the beach
no sound of waves

yesterday is already a blur
we drove and drove
we stopped twice
had a great lunch in Lexington SC
at Libby's
we were looking for a different restaurant
and couldn't find it
flounder sandwich
homemade potato chips
coconut cake

my Dad was tired and sore after riding for 8 hours
but we got to the island
after crossing the intracoastal waterway
so many buildings
we had no trouble finding the condo
we are on the third floor
Ray brought everything up
thank goodness for the elevator
beautiful kitchen counters
plentiful cupboards
big refrigerator
room to put away all the food I made
and Amelia's too

walking on the beach
with Maggie the dog
a wedding at the club house
a few people in clumps
but no one swimming
tide was out
so many shells
it was cold wading

Pondering Life and Death

There is a baby vole in the hole where the hose connects to the city water supply. It holds very still so I won't see it, but when I move away, I hear it peeping and squeaking, crying and shrieking, "help me, help me, help me!" If I were to decide to rescue it, it would try to escape me, and probably bite me. If I were to succeed, we would be trying to kill it in a few weeks (they grow fast), because they eat the baby plants growing in the garden and steal the food from the chicken coop. We have killed several this year. (I say "we," but Ray and my Dad have been the ones to carry out the deed, I am ashamed to say.) It is a dilemma for me to consider: what right do we have to kill them? The alternative, though, is to give up on gardening entirely, and depend on others far away to raise my food as they see fit, no doubt killing some creatures in the process.

There was a toad in the same spot earlier this week, about the same size, big for a toad, small for a vole. We needed to move it to turn the water on, to displace it from its wallow, hoping it will stay around and eat insects--just bad ones, of course (by my definition).

Who am I to decide which life to allow and which to snuff out? I pull up weeds with no qualms...I have had several tick bites this spring...nasty things that are hard to remove and leave itchy scabs. The Johnny-jump-ups in the garden I leave unless I need to plant something right there. We planted them years ago and they come back. I leave clover for the most part, on the grounds that it is good for the soil. I pull grass enthusiastically, while I bemoan its absence on the other side of the fence. I have a hierarchy of weeds...lespedezia is an invasive that grows everywhere at Kenney Ridge, displacing the native plants. It doesn't care about water or soil or heat...just grows energetically. It is probably my number one enemy weed.

There is a large peach tree in the corner of the garden. It is a volunteer. I suppose there was a peach pit in the compost that grew up along the fence and managed to escape being removed as a weed. Two years ago, I tried to pull it up but it was too well rooted. I meant to cut it down before the next year, but before I did, it had produced about a dozen lovely peaches. This year it is as tall as a one-story house and had many beautiful blossoms early in the spring. It has as many as 100 baby peaches on it--really!

There are two ironic things about this. I bought and planted two peach trees in my "orchard" about five years ago. One was doing well the first year, until the deer went crazy as the peaches ripened and knocked down the fence to get to it (a lesson for me in fence-building). Neither is much taller than me or has produced more than a few peaches each year. This volunteer is twenty times as productive, perhaps because of the work we have done on the garden soil...although its roots must go much deeper than anything we have done.

The other thing is that the tree now shades about half the vegetable garden. We are unable to plant anything in that corner, out about eight feet. Cilantro grows wild there, reseeding itself continually, like the Johnny-jump-ups. I have set in a couple pumpkins at the edge of the shady patch and we will see how they do.

When I water the plants, I am helping them to live, as well as when I add manure or compost or mulch and pull the weeds around them. I am the Mistress, the Goddess, the One Who Decides who will live and who will die.

I wonder if you have noticed, in the Spring, how the pine trees put out, at the end of their top branches, phallic chartreuse candles? Ray says, "Oh, look, the pine trees are having sex!"

At the moment, the wind is blowing the trees and the tops are waving back and forth, like seaweed at the bottom of the ocean, perhaps, or organic cartoon candelabras...perhaps in a Dr. Seuss book. The rain is coming, soon, I hope. The garden needs it. The clouds are becoming thicker and there is less and less sun.

After the pleasant days of cool mornings and evenings when I retreated indoors for a few hours and it stayed cool enough inside, it has become hotter and more humid. We are approaching Georgia summer and I am starting to think about how I can get away for a week or a month to somewhere cooler. The change in the weather may buy me a few more days when it is acceptable to be out for a few hours, weeding and tending my vegetable babies.

I was a little hysterical for a few days earlier this week. I was convinced that the job interview I had coming up was critical, the best place in the world for me to work. I had to have the perfect outfit so they would hire me. I spent about $500 in all, although I will return a few things next week. I spent many hours and cajoled all my closest friends to advise me.

I decided on the black crepe suit, but needed the right blouse for it. My good white blouse had gotten a little pink on the cuff and I wasn't sure it would show but didn't want to risk it. Also, a white blouse and black suit seemed just a touch too severe.

I spent several hours at Talbot's Monday afternoon with my patient and generous friend Becky. And, it turned out, Linda S. is now working at Talbot's! Her husband is a geology professor and we have known each other for years. Although we are not close friends, I like her quite well and was happy to have her help me shop. For one thing, she knows all the scoop about Talbot's clothes.

I foolishly did not bring the suit with me, but borrowed a black jacket and tried several blouses, a variety of colors and styles. There was a dress that I liked a lot too and Linda thought it would be fine to wear to an interview...but I would have to shave my legs. "Linda," I said, "I haven't shaved my legs since 1977 (the day I got married), and I am not going to do it for this job interview." "Why not?" she said. (This is one of the things I like about Linda). "It's wrong," I said. "You're such a hippie," she said. "Yes," I laughed, "and proud of it."

We really liked a periwinkle polyester sleeveless shell, but it didn't fit quite perfectly, bunching up above my bra. Linda advised me to get a better bra...Becky said she found wearing a camisole helped with the line of some tops. They also felt I needed a new necklace (which I thought was atrocious...but it was on sale.) "You can always bring it back," said Linda. She's good. In the end, they thought a somewhat garish red flowered shirt was the best under the black jacket. I bought several other tops, as well as the dress, and three pairs of pants (navy, black, gray). They were $80 each before the 30% off sale, and fit well...in a size 12! "Well," I said, "if I get this job, I will need lots of professional clothes."

Well, it happened! Dad sold his truck, in a pleasant and smooth transaction. A man named Mike came Saturday afternoon, in fact, earlier than expected. Ray had been back to John's for more wood and gotten home about noon to empty it and sweep it out. Mike got there about a half hour later. We were quite nervous by then, but he was very happy with the truck and had brought a cashier's check for $500 less than the asking price, which Dad was very willing to accept. After signing papers, he drove away and we said goodbye to a good and faithful truck. Dad treated us to dinner at Porterhouse, including champagne, and we all had a lovely time. At one point, he said, "it's hard to imagine that in a few months something bad will happen, and we won't be as happy as we are now." Ah, yes, fleeting happiness.

Yesterday, Ray and I had to be at UUFA at 8:15 to get ready to sing. I also had to speak briefly at both services, since I am "retiring" from the lay ministry. There are several new ministers and I will have plenty to keep me busy, and happy not to attend those long Thursday night meetings. I guess I'll go to one more this month. I also think we should have some sort of party. My Dad was there for the first service.

The thing I hate about having two services, especially when I have to be at both of them, is that the second ends at 12:30 (if it's on time). By then, I am starving. It would be one before I got home to eat, assuming I had something already prepared. I often have a snack--this time it was a banana and half a piece of peanut butter toast. Anyway, I am not in much of a mood for chatting and just want to get somewhere to eat. On this occasion, Janna and Ron, Becky and Kent were waiting for us at Five and Ten. Actually, they had already ordered, not that I blame them. Ray and I were the only ones to have alcohol (I guess some people don't drink that early in the day?), a mimosa for me and red wine for him. I had a lovely dish of sliced ribeye (a much smaller portion than I would get at, say, Porterhouse, but it came with coddled egg and several other accompaniments, including fried potatoes). Then we were the only two to order dessert. What is wrong with these people? Well, yes, I know they are all on diets for one thing. I also thing they eat out much more than we do. For us, it's a big special treat and we like to do it up right. Rhubarb flip cake, with a dab of whipped cream, of course. It was wonderful. Rhubarb is hard to find around here. We tried to grow it for a few years, but it is gone now.

I did harvest 5 strawberries yesterday. They were heavenly, but small. I would need about 50 plants to make enough to eat and freeze. Maybe it makes more sense to let Washington Farms grow them for us.

Janna's birthday is today. She had requested that we attend the Jason Carter for Governor fundraiser yesterday, so we went to the Melting Point after brunch. It was pretty hot by mid-afternoon, but we sat in the shade on the patio. There were a lot of young people there, more men than women, interestingly, and few that we knew, mostly politicians. Jason (Jimmy Carter's grandson) spoke for about 15 minutes. He is a pleasant, lucid, young man, father of 2, married to a teacher. Education is important to him. He is the only Democrat running, I believe, and so I will of course, vote for him. The Republican incumbent is pretty awful. I am cross, though, that Jason (as a state senator) voted for the "guns everywhere" bill. He was asked about it, and explained pretty clearly that he thought those decisions should be up to the communities. I don't have a lot of flexibility on that issue, though. I did write him a small check as a present for Janna.

By the time we got home, about 3:30, I think, my Dad was gone. I felt bad, but I tried to call him a few times and he never answered. He had watered some and done some other gardening. It was pleasant in the house, but hot outside. Ray and I were both tired and had trouble getting the energy to do anything. I finally managed to put away some socks and reorganize my shirts so I can find what I want to wear for my interview. We took turns reading to each other, while the other one de-cluttered some. It worked pretty well, but for the last chapter or so, we were both lying on the bed while Ray read.

Trying to figure out what to eat was hard. We didn't have much of anything in terms of leftovers. Our eggs are dwindling... I should buy some "store" eggs for baking and save the good ones (Gladys lays about 4 a week). More chickens are on my wish list. We did have some homemade bacon that Mike C. had made and given us to taste. Ray sliced off a few small pieces and cooked them up. I put in a couple slices of red onion and then some potatoes. Meanwhile, Ray washed some lettuce and we cut up some tomatoes too. So we had a BLT salad with potatoes. Pretty tasty...not quite filling enough, so we had popcorn later...

Which reminds me, it's lunch time now and I must feed myself!

Very sore from yesterday...moving slowly when I got up. Slept badly, although I would have expected the opposite. Woke with strange bad dreams...school social worker visiting family that raised fish to eat and sell for food...in terraced concrete ponds, but they were mutated...I was explaining they need to be licensed, when I realized they would probably not let me leave alive, since I might report them...

Beautiful cool sunny morning, brief walk helped clear my head. Ray loaded some junk in the truck and took it to the dump. They will recycle the metal from an old wheelbarrow, gas grill, rusty barrel, and lawnmower, so that is nice. He is finishing up the wood splitting with John and returning the splitter. Then he will bring the truck home and we will rinse it out, so it looks pretty when the potential buyer arrives at 2.

Meanwhile, I expect my Dad to come and we will keep setting out veggies. I finished the cucumbers yesterday, when it was cool again in the evening. There are about 15 of them, and not much room left for anything else! I will continue weeding and mulching. Trying to figure out where to put winter squash, melons, and peanuts. 

Death of Yesterday by M.C. Beaton
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

It's nice to have a new mystery series to read. This one is set in Scotland, in a beautiful rural area. One of my objections is the number of people killed off...there can't be more murders in this same area, or everyone would be dead! The detective/hero is a common man with flaws...Some parts are implausible, but I will try another in the series.


View all my reviews

Garden Day

Before the sun even showed itself this morning, I was out in my green barn coat (from LLBean), setting out the last of the bunching onions, mostly to get rid of them. They needed to get out of their pots and I needed to stop carrying them in and out of the house. It was cool and overcast, looking like it might rain. We always read the forecast, and there was very little chance of it. But it was pleasant for working outside.

Ray left before 7:30 with the truck. We are selling (my Dad is selling) the truck and someone is coming to look at it tomorrow afternoon. So Ray is spending the day helping John O. cut up and split a big red oak that came down at his house. They are borrowing a splitter from Kevin Manglitz. John has a trailer hitch, apparently. He used to trail a boat back and forth to Lake Hartwell...So they worked on that all morning.

My Dad arrived about 9:30 and we worked hard all morning, too. We set out 6 zucchini plants and a couple cucumbers. I assisted, fetching tools and water and manure and giving opinions. In between times, I sprinkled a little wood ash around some of the broccoli and green beans. I'm often doing a little weeding here and there, punctuated by periods of sitting and enjoying the weather and the view of the garden. Gladys, the last surviving chicken, is not far most of the time. I don't think she is lonely, really--I'm not sure a chicken can be lonely. But she may feel safer when someone is nearby. At one point, she was following me...and Cameron was trailing behind. We had a little parade.

At about 11:00 or so, Ray called me. He and John had loaded up the truck and they were going to bring it here and unload it, followed by lunch at our house. This was a great plan, except we didn't have anything much to offer. John was bringing ham and beer. I set about clearing the table and putting on the tablecloth. I washed a head of romaine and some broccoli. I took the sweet potato rolls out of the freezer and put them on the table in a basket to thaw. I started some sun tea on the porch. I steamed the broccoli and marinated it with canned cannellini. I sliced up a few tomatoes and put them on the table in a pretty dish. I channeled my mother and grandmother. We had a lovely lunch, with fruit and cookies for dessert.

They rushed off to get another load...Ray should be back about now, I'm wondering where he is. Grampa headed quickly to Normal Hardware to buy some more staples. We had to put the Remay over the squash plants to keep the bugs off them until they are big enough to flower and we need to let them in, at least the good ones. By now, the sun was pretty hot, but it was still a very pleasant day. Dad also set a couple  tomato plants in pots for the deck. We sat on the porch for a bit, talking and relaxing and feeling good about what we accomplished. We spend a lot of time discussing what we need to do next. It often seems there isn't enough space for everything. Pumpkins and melons take up lots of room. We don't even have the sweet potatoes yet...and I like to plant peanuts, too. We need more beans, too. Hmm.