The Dark Mower

It is 10:20 at night, Pioneer Day Eve. If you don't know what Pioneer Day is, it will be obvious to everyone around you that you have never been to Utah. So you should quick look it up on the internet. Unless, of course, all the people around you have also never been to Utah. In which case, I hope you come visit me sometime. In which case, it might be good to be informed.

Anyway, it's 10:20 at night, Pioneer Day Eve and this guy down the street is mowing his lawn, or something. All I know is there is a lawn mower sounding engine noise that seems oddly out of place after dark on a dead end street in a town of less than 200 people.

????????

My upstairs housemate has also been noticing this phenomenon. We startled each other a few minutes ago in the dark kitchen and then proceeded to have a conversation about what kind of business this sound has emanating into the night, into our precious quiet. The best we can figure is it has something to do with Pioneer Day. Maybe this person finds it very important to have a well manicured lawn on the dawn of the special day, which is why this chore could not wait until tomorrow morning to be completed. Unfortunately, this seems like a reasonable explanation to both of us.

One more thing - when one gazes out the door and looks down the road toward this noise, one will notice that there is also an ATV involved. Our explanation there is that the lawn mower needs light to see, and what better light out there than the headlights of a strategically placed ATV? Certainly better than the sun.

Kinda like a bucket of snakes.

Last fall, I was talking to a friend about planting garlic. She was describing all the finer points of when to plant, when to water, etc. Then she mentioned this thing called scapes. Life has never been the same.

SCAPES

I obtained some very nice planting garlic heads from this same friend, who got it from a nice garlic farmer boy in Northern Utah. I planted them in October, mulched the crap out of them, and pretty much just hoped for the best. This winter was long and hard. There was lots of snow, followed by lots of mud. There was also lots of sub-freezing temperatures and high winds. It is very windy here. Like 60mph. All day.

Sometimes I would stand at my front window and look out at the garlic beds I planted, wondering if those little garlic embryos were still alive out there. I fought back the desire to go dig one up to see what was going on in there.

Sure enough, in early spring, little green shoots emerged. The miracle of life! The following picture was taken in mid-April.

Observe how droplets of water cling delicately to this darling garlic shoot. It inspires humanity by reaching up to the sky!

After a while, other leaves even formed. Meanwhile, the rest of the garden struggled with the long cold spring. Even peas and spinach were moody.

Then, June came along. I knew that this season of scapes was apparently nigh. I waited. I watched. I continuously checked the crevices of the garlic plants for some alien looking things. Then, they appeared; green snakes winding out of the top of the garlic plant like someone was sitting there playing a flute. They jutted out of the top of the foliage then twisted around into loops. I took scissors outside and snipped a few off. I explored some alternative uses:

Edible fashion: The only kind of fashion worth having

Cat Plaything

And yes, they are tasty - kind of like a garlic flavored green onion. Just don't eat the flower part.

Now, all scapes are removed from my roughly 50 garlic plants. The leaves of the plants are now supposed to start browning, which is indeed happening. Next step: garlic harvest! *anticipates*

What time?

Today, I went to work even though I didn't want to.
I cried by myself in my bedroom.
Then I talked to a friend and cried some more while trying to choke down a smoothie.
I sat in bed.
I went to work.
I was utterly distracted in the head.
Then I gave a great evening program while being audited.
My striped kitty is purring and fixing to curl up next to me.
I will get up and turn of the garden sprinklers.
Then go to bed.
It is way pass my bed time.

Struggles of a tech saavy Luddite

I debated this for a long time.

It is true to say that I often feel uncomfortable when I hear the word 'blogosphere.' I like to think I live in a world of rocks and trees and kittens. You know, things you can touch, taste, see, etc. I work hard to make my living doing things that keep me closely connected with the 'real' reality. Was it Edward Abbey who first called it that? No, I think it was MacPhee. Something about how our houses, cities, grocery stores are what make up the human constructed world. Nature is the real world - the world that exists whether we want it to or not. I try to be real. That means a lot to me. I feel ill if I can't spend a lot of time outdoors, interacting with reality.

But I'm pretty good at technological things, if I do say so myself. I was a computer technician in college. I almost started a career as an astronomer, working in front of computers all day and night. In fact it was my experience as a lab aid to an astronomer that made me realize I needed to be in the out of doors. Many hours spent in front of a computer was not good for me.

There are also the social implications. That little voice deep down in me says its no good how glued to computers we are. Bloggers always seemed kind of self-important to me. Recently, though, I find myself reading blogs and really enjoying them.

Also recently, I find myself struggling to follow through on things I really want to do. In third grade I discovered a talent for writing. Mrs. James and Mrs. Carlson (my 3rd and 5th grade teachers) gave me a lot of praise, saying things like how when I become a famous writer I better not use a nom de plume. Then in college, I took a fiction writing workshop course. I would get comments like, "I think you're one of the few in here that would actually make it as a writer." That made me feel good. Like I have an innate talent at something. But I just haven't kept it up. I've kept a journal for most of my life, but in recent years, I just can't seem to bring myself to bring pen to paper. Every day I have ideas about what I could put into writing, but I don't do it. I am just having a harder and harder time actually taking my thoughts and feelings and creating interesting prose. Journaling has lost its luster. Most of the entries I made in the last year are boring and repetitive.

So, here's an idea. Blogs are like online journals where you can write about life or post short stories. People might read it and make comments. That's kind of cool! Maybe it is a way I can jump start this. I don't know, but I'm going to try.

This is a test post since I don't really know how to do this. Will I be able to delete it? Probably not. Maybe I shouldn't anyway. That would be rather revisionist.