1 April – Tid-Bits


April fool’s day is drawing to an end and there were no jokes played on me. I was going to write an April fool’s blog but Penny didn’t think it was a good idea. Brother-in-law Joe told sister Kathy that they had an alligator in their swimming pool. She was out looking for it when I called her tonight.


There were no big blog-worthy happenings these last few days but there were little tid-bits that when strung together capture what is going on in my life.


The major task while waiting for the sod to come was putting in this year’s garden. I dismantled the trough I put up a few years ago and replaced it with a 30ft x 18-inch trough. I have one zone of the sprinkler system dedicated to it and drip irrigation sprinkler heads to do the watering. This year I’m being a little more ambitious since I have more time to tend the garden and a good automatic watering setup. Of course I’ve got tomatoes. In addition we are trying green peppers, eggplant, green beans, snap peas, cucumbers, squash, and some herbs – basil, parsley, thyme and rosemary. Last year the critters kept me on my toes and ate tomatoes and squash and cucumber plants before I did. We hope to have better fortune this year.

During the week the gardening gloves I was wearing got really dirty and raunchy smelling. I decided to clean them by soaking them in our ½ bathroom sink. That’s the sink that Brie (you know, our skittish cat) uses to drink from. When she wants to drink we lift her up and set her beside the sink and turn the water on for her. I forgot I had put the gloves there and picked up Brie to give her water. While still in my arms she spotted the brown and black gloves floating in dirty brown water and I think she thought they were some sort of animal. I almost dropped her as she tried to escape.


I watched some of the Discovery Channels new series Planet Earth and found it to be a photographic gem. There is not a lot of new information but the photography is spectacular. The show uses close-ups whenever possible but many of the shots are made from a stabilized helicopter camera when the situation calls for it. When very large scale occurrences are filmed the show uses satellite photography. This is an 11 part series and I’ve only watched half of one show. If the whole series is done as well as what I’ve seen so far I’m going to enjoy it.


Since we are going to have Christy and Christian here this coming weekend Murphy’s Law has struck us. The window air conditioner in our sunroom, which we use as a guest room decided to die. It blew the circuit breaker for the room and now the fan runs but not the compressor. I don’t know if we will get a replacement in before the guests arrive.


Our church, Holy Spirit Parish on Hurlburt Field, is undergoing a huge political struggle. It is sad to see this kind of thing happening in a church but the effects have been to lose some great parishioners, the choir director and a woman who has carried the major load of religious education and the youth group for as long as we have been there, Marilyn Austin. Surprisingly, the Air Force has assigned a full-time priest to the parish – an unusual occurrence with the shortage of available priests in the service.


I’m into my third book while working on the garden. I’m currently reading about the voyage of the Mayflower, the establishment of the Plymouth Colony, and the first 30 years or so after the establishment of the settlement.

So that’s the way it is Sunday, April 1st 2007.