Gardening In Between

I woke to the sound of rain falling on the roof. The furnace was off with its quiet mechanicals accentuating the gentle sound. After a restless Monday night, I slept straight through to Wednesday.

Weather was sub-optimal for gardening yesterday. Wind gusts up to 45 miles per hour drove me to abandon tear-down of the garden plot planned for cruciferous vegetables, peas and greens. I managed to move the kitchen composter to a new location and tear down weed infested fencing. A lot of work remains.

This plot was the first dug after moving to Big Grove in 1993. I remember that initial work like it was yesterday. Our lot is 0.62 acres and I envisioned a big garden even if my work in transportation kept me away from the daily work of planting, weeding and managing crops. I became a better gardener by sticking with it. The plot became filled with sunken potato tubs, two composters, and pallets of miscellaneous stakes and other essential garden junk. It was a hodge-podge. I plan to clear all of it to gain planting space. I don’t know to where I’ll move the garden composter yet.

In late afternoon I drove to town and met with our candidate for state house, Elle Wyant. Her seventh grader was participating in a track meet at the high school. It provided an opportunity to talk about politics.We had more in common than I knew.

I don’t understand track and field. There were 400 people at the stadium, mostly milling about between events from what I could determine. It is the stuff of modern society: boring most of the time, injected with deep engagement in brief flashes. How did we come to that as a way to live?