Peaceful

I had a decent day today. The house and the cat received just about zero attention - but even so I still got a lot done. The kids are at their mom's so there was no stream of friends wandering up, and no refereeing needed to be done.

Just me, all by myself, doing whatever I felt like doing.

I started the day by hitting some of the garage sales. I used to hit them all the time when the kids were small and I was broke.

However, David is now wearing the same size clothes I am... and Todd still has all of David's stuff... and we really don't actually need anything in particular - but I figured I'd give it a shot.

So, I picked up two sleeping bags (free) and 3 CDs ($.50 each).

Then I decided I should do something I've never done, but tomorrow I plan to pick up a shotgun for Todd and possible a computer for me, so I decided this would need to be something relatively inexpensive.

Say, like, $10 or less.

So I asked myself, "What can I do that I haven't done before for less than $10?"
Naturally, it came to me that I could lay siege to the neighbor's enormous NEW camper/with accompanying NEW Volkswagen Beetle in tow by lobbing flaming arrows into the ground near the door.

But I don't have a bow... or a set of arrows... and it sounded like a waste of alcohol.

So I ate breakfast at Subway.

Then I wandered up to the library to put in some Facebook time. A friend that moved back in junior high had sent me a message asking about some of the other people in the class. I always enjoy hearing from this particular friend as he talks to me like we're still just kids having fun on the snow hill (if we remembered our snow pants, as he would point out) but on his "wall" he talks like the hard luck, drop-out, tattoo artist that he became.

Woe is me. The computers at the local library are older and can't handle some of the friend's profile pages without locking up. (Moriah - This is why I never comment on your status updates anymore.)

After having locked up the computer... again ... I decided that the weather really was planning to stay cold and windy. Since there was no longer any use in waiting it out, I decided to do some weeding and plant some of the flowers I have laying around.

Even though the temp was lower than optimal, the scenery is just beautiful. The flowering crab, apple trees, lilacs, and many more of the spring flowering trees are in full bloom here. I don't have any of these on my own property - yet...except for 1 tiny lilac that I just stuck in last summer - but I do have many lilac type trees that will pop into full bloom sometime this week, and my property will be covered in white, pink, and red flowers. Nice! (Yes. I know...pictures.)

It came to my attention that some of the perennials sure do take their sweet @$$ time about showing any indication that they made it through the winter. However, Obedient Plant is not one of these.

In fact, I think they should call it Disobedient Plant. Or maybe even Downright Unruly Plant. I can't believe how much it spreads in just one year!!!

But there were other less aggressive plants that still haven't shown signs of life. I removed one of these thinking it was dead, only to find that I'd done so in error. I suspect that a couple of the others also would have come around if they'd been left alone, but I wasn't really in the mood to spend a bunch of time weeding AROUND something that might be dead.

I do a lot of thinking while I'm weeding, and I compared myself to the plants. Am I like that plant that's just kind of there but in no hurry to grow? Or am I one that's already up and already blossoming? Or is my moment of glory still a short stretch down the road?

I read a saying once that went something like..."To have a garden is to be close to God."

For me, it's more like..."To have a garden is to play at being a god." This, of course, because I get to pick and choose which plants live and which plants die. And since this was the first weeding of the year, my maniacal laughter could have been heard echoing off the canyon walls as I gleefully screamed, "Die, damn you! Die! Die Die!" as I removed the dandelions from my project.

At least it could have if there were canyon walls here. Or if I really was THAT excited about pulling weeds.

In all actuality, it really was a calm day. I even passed on dragging out the Boom Box (yes, I still have the one I bought back in 1989ish) so as to enjoy listening to the critters - the blue jays, robins, cardinals, some black birds, and some I haven't identified. I paused in my work to listen to a mourning dove - partly because I grew up in an area where there were so many of them to listen to and partly because I wanted to pause in my work.

In fact, the only interruption in my peaceful day was when I heard someone talking to someone else out on the road.

I heard them say "Push. Push! PUSH ALREADY!"

I've never actually delivered a baby, so I just minded my own business.

And then I heard the engine crank over, and realized someones vehicle must have quit.

But then I heard the man say something about "...pull up your panties..." followed by what sounded like a black woman sounding off right back at him. And since I only know one black female in town, and she's a friend, and she just happens to live the direction the commotion was coming from, I decided to investigate.

So I meandered down the path from where I was working out to the road. While I was doing this, I questioned why it was that the female was the one pushing the stalled vehicle.

As I got out to the road, I glanced toward a van at the same time someone started it. I could still hear the male voice, so I walked out a bit more to see if there was another vehicle.

Nope. Just the guy walking toward the van.

So I turned and walked back up the path.

And just as I walked out of his sight I heard him say, "That's right. Go back in the woods."

Which stopped me cold.

And when he next glanced up the street toward where I HAD been, he found that I was once again there.

And I was a bit pissy. And while I've never been in a fight, I knew that he only had his can of beer, while I had an entire arsenal of weaponry that he couldn't even see. (At this point in the story I would like to mention that I've never actually used a Garden Weasel but suspect that it's probably worthless. On the other hand, The Garden Claw Red...a registered trademark of The Garden Weasel... is not only fantastic for weeding without bending - it's also perfectly balanced like it was designed for guys who plant flowers and have fairy statues to throw at drunk guys who are verbally and emotionally abusive to females.)

Plus, I had to defend the reputation of the loner guys one might find in the woods.
I mean, really! Has this guy never seen the movie "Deliverance"?
* cue here the hillbilly banjo boy... :)

Apparently it shows when I'm pissed. I heard him say "Go." to whoever was in the van.

I thought, "That's right. Be afraid! Run from my flower power. Bitch." :)

So then everything went back to quiet and peaceful. I planted some English Ivy, some Hosta, some Columbine, four of something I can't think of the name of right off hand, and so on.

Then I went back to Subway for supper so that the day would be well rounded, and enjoyed my sub and some clam chowder and a beer of my own while sitting on my swingy thingy and watching the birds and listening to the wind chimes.

Oh, and I forgot to mention I dug up an old marble and a pair of glasses that looked a lot like the ones Sheila was wearing in her graduation pictures.

Oooooh yeah. Next time I stare someone down I'm going to be wearing those! :)

Well. It's getting late. I should get to sleep. Outside. In my free sleeping bags...