Spring, 2010 Style

19. March 2010 · Write a comment · Categories: daily life, food, gardening, good things, gratitude, home, maryland, music, sidetracks, snow, spring, thoughts, weather, winter

And it’s sure been a cold, cold winter

And the wind ain’t been blowin’ from the south

It’s sure been a cold, cold winter

And the light of love is all burned out

It sure been a hard, hard winter

My feet been draggin’ ‘cross the ground

And I hope it’s gonna be a long, hot summer

And the light of love will be burnin’ bright

…

It sure been a cold, cold winter

My feet been draggin’ ‘cross the ground

And the fields has all been brown and fallow

And the springtime take a long way around

God damn, I love that song. For those that don’t recognize it, its “Winter” by the Rolling stones on the Goats Head Soup album.  If you haven’t given it a listen before, well, you should, you’ll recognize a bunch of good tunes on there.  And if you have, but haven’t listened to it in a while, well, give it a spin – or whatever we do with digital music these days.

Spring is here!  It was 72 F here in Severna Park today!  Beautiful days.  I grilled.  I wore short sleeves. I knocked off work a tinsy bit early.

I’ve got spinach growing in my garden – it wintered over!  So did the collards and kale that I never go around to picking.  Even after the ridiculous snow and cold we had!  And most extraordinarily, so did my parsley.  I’m excited for the spring and getting my garden going again!

A retrospective of 8 years

11. September 2009 · 1 comment · Categories: culture, dad, daily life, death, environment, family, fatherhood, frowns, gardening, gratitude, green, incongruities, mr. grey, penn state, smiles, struggles, stupidity, thoughts, time, tragedy

Eight years ago today I remember exactly where I was when I found out about the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon: Office Depot in Annapolis, MD. I was there to buy some paper so I could print out my expense report and send it in via snail mail to get paid for my expenses. I remember the kid behind the counter, jacked up hair, lots of piercings, in the Office Depot uniform – incongruous to say the least. He seemed like he was high, ranting and raving about planes flying into buildings in New York.

Green Park, London

As I walked out the door, I called my best friend and asked if he’d heard anything about this. “Yeah, I’m watching it on TV like the rest of the country,” was the response. The comment cut into me. It insinuated that I had my head in a hole or something. It had been a nice day up until this point. Sunny and warm, but the humidity had cleared out finally.

I spent the rest of the day trying to work, but overcome by the events – like the rest of the country. I was living in an apartment in a waterfront house on Spa Creek. I tried to fish some to get my mind off it, but there were fighter jets in the sky, patrolling the area since the Naval Academy was just down the street. That was the first time I realized the Academy really is a base.

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Fall Planting

26. August 2009 · Write a comment · Categories: cooking, daily life, fall, food, gardening, health, home, slowing down, smiles, vegetables

DSC_0008-1.jpgSummer is drawing to a close. I started out the season with high hopes for the garden. And suffered a number of setbacks with respect to my Achilles and the soil I got for my garden. However, I planted several of the original items. Of the original list the following pretty much failed:

  • Yellow Onion
  • Red Onion
  • Spinach

Of the items that did not fail, my tomatoes were the best. It took a long time for them to come in, but August has been a good month for them.

My Squash and Zucchini were disappointing. Both got hit by some kind of larval infestation. My peppers are starting to actually produce.

The fact that it took so much longer to get veggies out of the ground this year I think has to do with the weather. So it seemed odd to me that I was ready to start my planting for the fall already, since I’d gotten so little out of the garden. At any rate, this week I planted a bunch of good stuff for harvest during the fall months. The items include:

  • Swiss Chard
  • Carrots
  • Collard Greens
  • Beets
  • Spinach
  • Leeks

I’m hoping for a flavorful Fall.

Sunday To Do List

09. August 2009 · Write a comment · Categories: daily life, family, fatherhood, frustration, gardening, weather

So, I’ve got a few things on the to-do list today:

  • Get a massage (Thanks for scheduling this TKD)
  • Clean the House (Check)
  • Home Depot Run (Check)
  • Grocery Store Run (Check)
  • Finish Mulch (ugghhh…it was so hot but I got my driveway back)

Welcome Back, Rain

06. August 2009 · Write a comment · Categories: daily life, gardening, good things, rain, sidetracks, smiles, thoughts, weather

We have really needed some rain for quite some time.  Most of July was solidly dry and the earth is parched.  We’ve had some crazy big rains over the last two weeks, but nothing that was a real slow soaking rain.  Most of that rain simply ran off the surface into the streets, gutters, and ultimately the rivers.  In one storm we got close to 2 inches in a few hours, but when I tilled the soil in my garden it was still dry. 

We got some good steady soaking rain last night and this morning.  I’m glad to have it.

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