Little Things

 I was so exasperated yesterday, when I tried to delete a draft and wound up deleting a post instead. I've been struggling a little here, and when things get overwhelming, it just seems like I can think of nothing but that one big thing.  In the end, as always, I came to the familiar conclusions: It is what it is, and whatever happens, I will deal with it. Once that conclusion is reached, it seems like my mind lets go of that one big thing and once again, I begin to notice the little things around me. 

And, lets get real, that's all this blog is: a compilation of the little things around me. Why you all keep reading is beyond me! But I'm glad you are. 

To the commenter who noted that she has bad luck growing tomato plants, I bought the coolest little things. 

The great thing about these is that they are totally reusable. You fill them with your potting medium, plant your seeds, set the tray into the water tray and let it go. You water from the bottom and when you are ready, you lift the top tray out and the plants pop out from the flexible bottom. It worked so well on tomatoes that I bought a second for my cucumbers, which I intend to grow hydroponically again after an abysmal failure the first year (I have figured out what I did wrong though. I think. Worth another try since I have all the equpment I need.) 

Note to Tasker: No tomato is ever wasted. You end up with seven and only want four? Well, sir, you have received a sign from the universe that you're supposed to give three away. Easy peasy. I, myself have planted four zucchini seeds. I only actually want one, so that means that I will be up to my armpits in zucchini and looking for homes. (This is how you make sure that you don't ever wind up with an overwhelming number of friends. After one good zucchini season, they all run when they see you, and hide behind their curtains not answering your knock.) 

Channeling my inner Mary Moon, yesterday, I saw a packet of okra seeds on a rack of 20 cent seeds. (Twenty cents!) They are a wonderful addition to gumbos and soups, so I got a package of them. I resisted an urge to buy yet another seed tray. These will be planted in paper cups. 

While I was mooching about the store, finding little bargains, I decided to run back and check the houseplants. One can never tell when one will find a distressed house plant in need of saving, and reduced to a ridiculous price. Always worth a look. There was another elderly lady there with a younger woman (perhaps a grand daughter). I try to be pretty non-judgemental as a rule, but I'm going to tell you, These people smelled. Horribly. I don't think that I've ever been around such a smell. The elderly womam looked dirty. The younger woman did not. Maybe it was just the grandmother that smelled so awful. It wasn't anything definable, like she'd had some sort of bowel accident that she couldn't help. It was just this over whelming smell of funk. But how does a person get to that point and not notice? Or if they don't notice, how do the people around them not notice? How does anyone let someone they love get into that state? I don't know. I tend to be pretty direct. I'd be saying it outright. "I don't want to hurt your feelings but you smell bad. Here's some lovely scented soap. The shower's in there." 

It's snowing here again, I am sad to say, and it is awfully cold, but in the handful of warm spring like days, I got out to walk. Something that I much admired in England were hellebores. I'd never seen them here. Reading up on them, I got the idea that they might be something that could be grown here, but I never seen them, so I wasn't exactly certain. Guess what? I saw one while I was out for a walk. I wanted to examine it closely, but couldn't. You just don't want to walk up on somebody's yard. That's how you get yourself shot. But, there it was. Proof positive. I can grow them here. I can't wait until we get in the new house and I can begin assembling things. 

I had to go back to the hospital to get the rest of my tests done. I didn't have time to do them all on Friday. I'd just done the lab work that required fasting. I still needed the chest x-ray and ekg. By luck, I got registrar 1 again, the same lovely person who had processed me through the first two times that there were no orders in the system for me. She must have recognized my name because she had my name plugged into the system before I even walked in. She said, "Guess what! I have orders for you!" I laughed. I said, "I know you do. I was back here Friday to get the blood work done. I need to finish it up today." She said, "Well, you were very pleasant about all of it, really." I said, "You know, I'm thinking it was because I hadn't had my coffee both times you saw me. I just didn't have the energy to make a big stink about it. I'm caffeinated now, sistah, so let's just get this done, and don't give me any problems." It always feels good to share a laugh, doesn't it?

So I'm surrounded by little signs of spring everywhere. Things budding out, splashes of bright yellow forsythia. I can see magnolia and azalea getting ready to do something big. There will be daffodils soon and tulips, too. Another season is coming. 

And keeping with his annual tradition, Tim has gotten his tractor stuck.