Garden of Life

Well, the last three days we have had stellar weather. Sunny, less humid, a refreshing breeze. The eternal Autumn awaits. I can feel it in the air, that cool whisper that portends of change. I was absolutely desperate to enjoy the outdoors after our outside environment rinse-cycle car-wash summer. I kayaked on Thursday after school and mountain-biked Friday. I hope to mountain-bike tomorrow after school. Yesterday, I drank great beer and smoked a cigar while a friend brewed beer.

I am a brew consultant. I don't do much besides provide company and point out potentially egregious mishaps during the brew-process.  Yesterday, I rescued the wayward printed directions that had been caught by the wind and were in danger of blowing away. Hero that I am.   

On all three days it was lovely to be outside in nature. I suppose one positive about unpleasant weather is that beautiful days and nights count for more. Appreciation goes up as a result of adversity. I would still rather live in verdant Pennsylvania than California wildfire country.

My garden, besides the Kale, has really suffered though because of the all rain and little sun summer. One Tomato plan has not yet produced a single Tomato. The Bell Pepper plant and Jalapeno plant have been duds pretty much. The grass has grown a lot but it has been a gauntlet to mow in-between storms.

I started up with growing a garden about ten years ago at my previous domicile. I figured that I would sow some seeds and let the best plants win. Not much for weeding, it turned into a mess. We still got a lot produce with my Darwinian Gardening but my uptight neighbor out back really got his undies in a wad. Staring out his back window upon the maelstrom irritated him to no end. I hated living in upper middle class America where the barometer of self-worth for the men is how green and manicured their grass is.

I mean, seriously, the Devil himself couldn't devise a more useless method to evaluate our worth. "The grass withers and the flower fades, but the Word of God stands forever." Well Lord, I had the nicest yard on the block. "You fool!"    

Here in Molumbia, the scale of propriety is considerably more lenient. That I mow on a regular basis at all puts me solidly in the top 50% of the neighborhood. I heard a Jackie Gleason joke recently where Rodney Dangerfield commented that he was looking thin and Rodney asked him how he did it. Gleason replied, "I hang around a lot of fat people." Same deal with the grass. I am a mowing MVP because I am in a different league. 

My garden has taught me a lot of interesting lessons spiritually. My battles with groundhogs taught me about the capriciousness of life. The infernal creatures had zero awareness that my life was going to hell and that they were the last freaking furry straw. They were hungry. A lot of harm happens in life because we are just in the way of someone else's ignorance. They are not even aware.   

Staking Tomato plants informed me about the necessity of discipline for fruitfulness. Tomatoes, like teenagers, if not provided structure, will become all gnarly and non-productive and lay-around. Put a little spine in them, they become productive. I have become a fairly-disciplined individual. And rather than it make me a control freak, it has allowed me to be calm and peaceful. An unorganized person is a stressed person. 

Growing Habaneros instructed me on the value of planting something that the vermin hate but something I love as a prevention to destruction. Learn to value things that are not universally appreciated like a good book. A thief could break into my house but I doubt that he will steal my books.   

The good growth of the Kale this summer versus the desultory Tomato and Pepper yield demonstrates that what may be good for one aspect of creation may be a negative for another (how true for our lives, eh?).  What may good for one part of our life could have a downside on another. Good job? Less free time.

Today I savored the salad above. Garden-grown Tomatoes and Peppers. I also studied the plastic wrapping of those single serve mozzarella cheese sticks. Basically, I put on my magnification glasses and peered at the side that is supposed to be opened and how it is structured; I read the instructions for opening and I noticed that the leverage to pull the plastic part arises in the middle rather than on the sides. If all else fails, read the instructions.

For several months I have been stymied by that design feature and resorted previously to hacking at the plastic to free the hostage stick. Let me know if you need a hand now that I am an expert. Pretty pathetic, but I do have a Ph.D. after all.