This'll Be Short

My friend Lala arrived just after 11 o'clock and I don't think we stopped talking (except when she took a little couch nap) until I came in here to blog.  We'd hoped to go to the Botanical Garden but it was drizzly and chilly so we opted for a trip to the Neville Public Museum instead.  There was a nice exhibit of early Green Bay artifacts and another of taxidermy-ed birds from the collection.  (which wasn't as gruesome as it sounds)  In the small gallery was a display of collage and paint art, kind of Jackson Pollock-ish, that we both liked.




One of the poppies in the garden bloomed!  There are a lot more buds ready to pop.  I need a lot more of these.




 
Yesterday I noticed that the spiderwort is blooming.  These tiny blue-violet flowers try to hide under the leaves but I spied them.  They bloom early and late in the day and close up shop during the heat of the day (if we ever get any).  I wonder what pollinators are most active at those times and inactive at midday.  Maybe I'll look that up one of these days.






My replacement lettuces are doing well.  I cut back the watering time, we've had a few rainy days, and we all know that plants like rainwater better than hose water.



 


Look at these potato sprouts all in a line.  They're from one potato.  The other sprouts are a single plant but this one has delusions of grandeur.



16 June--Barbara Malcolm, Horizon. 

Sunset on Saturday found the four of us sitting on the porch with cups of hot chocolate enjoying the beautiful autumn colors.

Aaron took a sip of his drink and sighed.  “I remember sitting out here when I was really little.  You’d wrap us in blankets and park us in these chairs with hot chocolate to watch the sunset.  Of course, the trees were shorter then; we could see the church steeple a mile away with the sun glinting on the cross.  And the hot chocolate you made for us then didn’t have brandy in it.” He took another sip.  “This is great.”

I laughed.  “Maybe I should have put brandy in it then, too.  With three active boys underfoot, those few minutes were about all the peace I got some days.  Planting the three of you out here let me grab a breather before getting supper on the table.”

“You know, Gail, I never thought of it before, but Aaron has always made a point of being home at least one evening a week to watch the sunset with David and me.  He always pours us a drink, even if it’s just juice.  Huh…  Did Bert watch sunsets, too?”

“It was his idea.  We sat here watching sunsets when we were first married, planning our future.  He always said it was the best in the fall, even though there was so much to do around here.  He’d work until the last minute and then come racing in from wherever he was in the fields.  I can still hear his boots clomping on the porch floor.  And, even after all the years he’s been gone, I sometimes find myself wondering if I should pour him a glass of beer when I’m getting ready to come out here.”

We finished our hot chocolate in silence enjoying the fading light. 

As we were getting up to go into the house for dinner Aaron said, “Mom, you’ve got some black paint on this railing and the slats.”  He was picking at the paint with his thumbnail.  “I could chip it off or paint over it tomorrow before we go.”

“No!”  I was embarrassed at the strength of my response.  “I mean, no thank you, Aaron.  It’s too dark to see now but I started marking the sunsets on the railing and putting little comments on the slats, kind of a sunset diary.”

“What are you talking about, Mom?”

            “Well, I got to thinking I’d spent so many evenings on this porch watching the sun set that it deserved some kind of recognition.  So I’m painting a stripe where the sun touches the railing and… oh, never mind.”  I flapped my hand to wave away the questions.  “It’s so silly.  Just forget it.  The stew’s ready.  Let’s eat.”

             I watched them exchange glances that said, ‘What’s going on with Mom?’ and ‘Don’t worry.  It’ll be okay.’  Sara rubbed her husband’s back as they walked in to supper, just like she did David’s when he was worried or upset about something she couldn’t fix.   

             We spent that evening toasting marshmallows around a bonfire in the fire-pit that Bert and the boys had built one year for a Boy Scout project.  I told David stories of how mischievous Sam, Aaron, and Matt were when they were small.  Everyone had a good laugh at the stories and Aaron looked ashamed at some of their foolishness.  He warned David not to get any ideas.

Lala and I took a walk around the block and I learned the hard way that working out with a trainer and on the weight machines is not a substitute for actual walking.  Guess who'll be doing a daily lap around the block.
--Barbara