Roots & Vine

Before you become pregnant you pretty much take the baby's nine-month gestation period for granted. It's a system that works - right?
Then you become pregnant and you start reading up on things and you learn out about spina bifida, cleft palates, heart defects, anencephaly, fused limbs, and progeria and you realize that with all that's got to go exactly right in those nine months it's a miracle any baby is ever born healthy at all.
It's sort of the same thing with gardening. When you first start, or when you're first considering starting you think, "how hard can it be? You plant a seed and water it right?" But then you get started and you learn about rabbits and moles and slugs and white flies and cucumber beetles and squash mildew and blight and pretty soon you realize that it's a wonder any vegetable ever reach maturity at all. 
The difference between developing babies and developing bean plants is that (so far) we don't encourage expectant mothers to douse themselves in chemical insecticides for their nine-month growing season.

song: Roots & Vine • artist: Sons of Fathers

Hot Sun in the Summertime

Even our pet mice are hot.
How do I know?
They told me.
Not actually but I'm an expert at reading rodent body language.
Usually the mice huddle together and curl up into little balls to sleep. Today there's no huddling and the mice are all asleep stretched way out instead of curled up.
That's how hot it is folks. Forget frying an egg on the sidewalk - it's too hot for a mouse to curl into a ball.
Yesterday I drove H to Jr Rangers at 8:30 AM. At 8:30 the car's thermostat read 28°C. At 6:30 PM I was driving to the community garden to water and again the car's thermostat read 28°C. I believe that between 8:30 AM and 6:30 PM the temperature could have only gone up. For those of you who don't do celsius 28° is a good one to remember because it's basically the reciprocal of it's Fahrenheit equivalent - or - 82°F.
And you thought it was too hot to learn anything new.

song: Hot Sun in the Summertime • artist: Sly and the Family Stone

American Pi(e)

Pi World Ranking List: #172. 
That's my geek! 
I mean my son.

song: American Pie • artist: Don McLean

The Outdoor Type

 

song: The Outdoor Type • artist: Lemonheads

See the World

Up until Thursday I had not been to the town's fireworks display in years because I labor under the suspicion that they are an enormous waste of money. Thursday's show, under a blanket of low-lying fog, did nothing to change my position. I did however, find it amusing how - once people figured out the firework were going to be partially obscured due to fog - everyone stood up. Woah - what does that give you - another three-and-a-half feet of elevation? Ain't gonna help.
And speaking of obscured vision, it was nice years back when the bikpath portion through West Falmouth was finishing and different groups went about beautifying it by planting flowers and ornamental grasses where the path intersects Old Dock Road except that it's impossible this time of year to see past the grasses and the day lilies in order to ascertain whether or not a biker is actually on the path headed towards the intersection.
In retrospect I think the intersection should have been spruced up with some attractive ground covers or moss varieties instead.

song: See the World • artist: Gomez

Star Spangled Banner

...by the dawn's early light.

song: Star Spangled Banner • artist: Francis Scott Key

Rubber Soul

Whoever thought that shredded rubber tires would make a great substrate under the playground at the North Falmouth Elementary School should come over and pick it out of my washing machine.

album: Rubber Soul • artist: The Beatles

Go Your Own Way

Having a bad day? Going no where? Not accomplishing anything? Take heart folks, things are not so bad as they seem.
When life seems overly complicated and things just don't seem to be your way just take a page from my son S who announced tonight that it was a "good day," because - - he didn't pee in his pants.
And he's right. It was.
See? That's all it takes. Just don't pee in your pants and you can consider your day not only complete, but a complete success.
"Hey! I didn't pee in my pants today. Guess my work here is done."
Amen to that.

song: Go Your Own Way • artist: Fleetwood Mac

Cuts Like a Knife

Remembering that C got his first pocket knife when he was eight, H decided that he was due. The staff at the lodge called around and, this being NH, quickly came back to us with directions to Abe's Awesome Armaments in New Hampton. Awesome Abe had it all: knives, guns, swords, throwing stars, you name it. I love a guy who's into weapons and alliteration. And when we went to check out, $10 (used!) Swiss army knife in hand, Awesome Abe (or the guy at the cash register) told me he liked my recycled rice bag wallet - which seemed odd. You'd think the kind of wallet Awesome Abe would like would be one made of bison leather - assuming that you'd killed and skinned the bison yourself and stitched it together using cat gut. 
Back at the lodge later that afternoon I told H he shouldn't use his knife around the other kids because I was afraid that 1) he might hurt someone and 2) in seconds they'd all be lining up to try it and the other parents would be horrified.
But there was a third option I hadn't thought of and a few minutes later he was back inside.
"Mom, there are two other kids outside whittling with their pocket knives, can I sit and whittle with them?"
Yes!  
I gave their mom my phone number.

song: Cuts Like a Knife • artist: Bryan Adams