It’s been awhile since I have written anything. While the
summer has been mostly a string of cancelled events, disrupted routines, masked
people in public and uncertainty; there have been some cool things that have
happened.
My container garden is flourishing this year. After three
years I have gotten the hang of it. I have a Beef Master Tomato plant that is
over 6’ tall and producing tomatoes the size of softballs. My herb pot is overflowing and cucumbers, peppers, zucchini and cherry tomatoes are producing
nicely. Champ informed me the other day that I had 24 pots planted on our site!
My pollinator habitats are thriving after taking last year to get established
and yes, the butterflies and bees are visiting in large numbers.
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| Giant BeefMaster in background nearly 7 feet tall! |
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| Close up of the BeefMaster heavy with fruit |
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| Drive Entrance one of my two Pollinator habitats |
The highlight of the summer so far, is my decision to buy
another motorcycle. Eight years after selling mine, I decided it was time to
start riding again. Some of my stimulus dollars are now in the form of a
beautiful 1999 Green and Cream Honda Shadow. The nagging doubts of whether I
would get into it again and remember how to ride, blew away in the breeze as I
took off from the home of the man I bought it from on a 100 degree evening and
set out on the 70 mile ride home. Within
the first 10 miles I was back in the saddle ( so to speak) and feeling the
freedom only a motorcycle rider or horseman feels with the wind blowing across
you as you lean through the curves of the winding midwestern two lane
blacktop back roads.
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| Bringing 'er home |
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| Me And My Shadow |
The honeymoon has not ended with my Garden Center job. I
don’t think it will. It’s more like a comfortable old marriage. When I started
working for them in early May, they were the only major retailer in central
Iowa requiring both guests and staff to wear masks. That policy was set to
expire in late June. I couldn’t imagine working outdoors in the extreme Iowa
heat and humidity wearing a mask and hoped for a cool June. Flashforward to
late July, and we are still wearing masks, other retailers have joined my
employer in the mask mandates and the heat is searing here this year. The mask
sucks, I won’t mince words. Today the thermometer that hangs on the wall
between the covered and outdoor garden center space reached 100 degrees. More
days than not this year we are in the lower 90’s by lunch time. Oddly, everyone
seems to be adapting the extreme discomfort of having our face covered in the
heat. I drink a lot of water and am taking about a 90-minute nap every day
after work. Despite that, I am quite at home spending mornings caring for the
plants and stocking gardening freight at the store always grateful that I get
out of there at midday before the really bad late afternoon and evening heat
settles over the department. Like every other part time job I pick up here and there I learn something new at each one. I have never used a pallet jack but it has quickly become my best friend in the garden center. I've also learned about some plants I wasn't previously that familiar with as a result of taking care of the entire inventory of plants and trees. There is always room to learn something new!
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| My New Best Friend at Work |
The weight on most full timers shoulders this summer, is
what we are going to do this winter. As COVID numbers skyrocket in the areas
frequented by snowbirds we are all feeling uncertain. After some exhaustive
conversation we decided to withdraw from the position we were offered at a big
resort in Mesa. Arizona will have to
wait for another year. At the end of all the discussion we decided two things.
First if we are healthy and travel is possible, we would just as soon be bored
where it is warm rather than bored in the frozen north. Second, we want to be
somewhere familiar. That being said we made a reservation at a park outside of
Mathis, Texas where we stayed for 8 weeks a couple of years ago. We met several
couples there that we have stayed in contact with. We are both relieved to have
as firm a plan as one can have these days. Of course, we both realize that the
world could go straight to hell between now and then and we could be forced to
stay in Iowa this winter, but we aren’t dwelling on it for now.
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| Momma Robin feeding her babies |
The feeling of normalcy comes each time we see the kids and
grandkids. I have been watching a pair Robins, nesting in the tree next to my
patio feed their three babies the past couple of days and look forward to
watching them fledge soon. We are finally in something of a routine after a
very unsettled spring when we arrived back in Iowa. The rest of the time we try to roll with all
the changed procedures and new ways of existing in public. It is a world gone
mad for sure, but we are getting used to being full timers in these uncertain
times. Changes are achieving permanency all around us. Like everyone else, we
just don’t know which changes will have staying power and which ones will
subside over the next months. I can’t help but wonder what work camping will
look like three years from now.
Until Next Time…
