9:53 p.m. - 2003-07-27
Ramble
Tonight I'm feeling like I have some strange diarrhea of the brain, making normal and coherent entries impossible. Just too much going on here, what with trying to get some art done before the trip up North and getting in a trip to Birmingham before then and sorting out what to take with us as far as needing things for the three trip stops - Chincoteaque for a 20 Ashford Street reunion (Bruce's 20 Ashford buddies, not the later 20 Ashford group that I was part of, so I am assured of feeling out of place for several days. But that's ok, I'm sure Bruce has felt out of place for me a few times in our 18 years), then Baltimore to see his Dad, then New Hampshire and Boston to see my folks and our friends there.
Too many places in too short a time.
I have this weird list of things to remember, including:
1. Gravestone rubbing supplies
2. The address for the New Hampshire Death Records Archive
3. Bags of grits and cans of black eyed peas (for my friend Ted who is originally from Texas)
4. My swimsuit
5. Some information on the British custom of burying horses head's under buildings. This is for my father, who found a horse's skull buried under the floor of his Victorian store building this summer.
6. A children's book my sister has been wanting for years, that I finally found for her.
7. Shake Away! Fox urine product that is supposed to repel moles. It's for my parent's garden. They have a horrible mole problem.
And besides all this trip stuff there's bunnies to hug and cats to amuse and Burma to tame, and our big wild jungle to sort out. We've been working on the area around the back patio. We have all the evil jungle vines torn out and now we have to put in compost and re-plant it.
Yesterday we went to a couple of garden centers and got as many native plants for shade as we could find. Which wasn't very many. It's just too hot here right now and the garden centers are focusing on selling "garden art" and fountains and non-plant items, because very few people in their right minds really want to go out and actually plant anything in this sort of heat.
It's the sort of heat that smacks up against you like a brick wall the minute you leave the air conditioned house. The humidity is 98%, which makes it seem even hotter and almost impossible to breathe. I'm sorry to say that it doesn't stop me. I just pour water over myself every five minutes and stay in the backyard so my neighbors don't get treated to a free wet T-shirt contest. Considering my neighbors are all in thier 60's and 70's, I'm sure this would give them an extra-special thrill.
Tonight I started building up the terracing for this area so we could put more compost in. Sort of like having raised beds, which is necessary because the earth is so hard to dig, with lots of tree roots and a layer of limestone not too far down.
It was fun. I moved a lot of big rocks around, and it felt like when I used to make fairy houses when I was a kid. I think I inherited this stone wall building gene from my mother's father, because I really like piling up rocks.
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