An Exciting Time in the Garden

We've had an exciting time in the garden this Spring....Yes, that's right I said 'exciting'.

Last year, the dreaded squash borers killed most of Mark's squash crop (squash borers are stealth, ugly, & deadly enemies)--they decimated our row of squash plants in a matter of days. This year Mark planned his strategy, chose his weapons, and set out on the offensive. Now Mark's not very aggressive, even in gardening, so he was as gentle as possible about it, but whatever he did kept the bugs at bay and we have enjoyed quite a nice crop of squash.

A friend at church gave us potatoes to plant; that's a new venture for us, but when it comes to gardening, we are willing to try just about anything once. Now potatoes may sound dull, but... You watch the plants grow and grow, but you really can't know what's happening under ground. So, you feed, water, and weed, and you just wonder if anything is really happening. You think it is; it must be; but you don't really know. And then one day, like today, they get pulled up (by Mark) and there they are--pretty red potatoes! It all seems rather mysterious to me.

The bell peppers & jalapenos are much more obvious, and therefore, less mysterious than the potatoes. They do all of their blooming, budding, and growing out in the open. Sure makes it easier to check on their progress. Even so, I wouldn't call them boring--you still have to feed and water them, figure out when something else is eating on them and then try to hold that something else at bay. Can get mighty interesting--no telling how many bugs we've 'googled'! (http://www.whatsthatbug.com/)

And then there's the tomatoes. You see, last year we had one grape tomato plant--we would go out every day just to see if any new ones had ripened; then we'd pick, wash & eat whatever was available. To keep up with our demand, we planted a whole row of these grape tomato plants this year. They have really grown and pretty much taken over the whole bed (luckily we had pulled the carrots up already and that gave them room to spread out.) We don't mind getting lots of these tomatoes as they are absolutely delicious. The birds think so too, and we now play a daily game of trying to determine just when to pick that 'reddish' tomato--wait too late and the birds will beat you to it! Trust me--when the prize is a very sweet, very delicious, 'little' tomato (as in 'not a size you can share')--this kind of competition can be pretty exciting.

There is no competition with the birds for the blackberries. I'm actually pretty selfish where blackberries are concerned and I covered them so that the birds won't have a chance. (Mark has a chance, but not much of one I'll admit.) My best recipe for blackberries is: pick, wash, EAT immediately. The excitement about the blackberry is in simply finding a new one fully ripened & ready to eat. I don't need more excitement than that. (And if you don't find that exciting, maybe you've never had a blackberry fresh from the vine. Not really sure where you can get one. Probably not here. Maybe somewhere. (Sorry--I did say I was selfish about these.) You can have a bell pepper... potato... jalapeno... Sorry but I don't see any ripe blackberries to share just now...)

So there you have the excitement of gardening: mystery, intrigue, competition, triumph, failure, sweet success--and yes, an obvious need for a little more self-reflection. I'd call that exciting--and imagine, it's all here at our little 'pfarm'.

Thanks for Reading!

Musings from the Armadillo Classic

Yesterday, Mark & I rode in the Armadillo Hill Country Classic. We had signed up for the 14 mile ride, but at the 7 mile rest-stop & turn around, we had a shared moment of—well I wouldn’t really call it ‘insanity’, more like a lapse in judgment. Whatever it was, we decided to keep going. My only defense is that since we were to return by the same route, we could decide to turn back before the next designated stop. I will say that my cycling computer showed the first rest stop at 7 miles—precisely where it should be. I watched the clock and was a little dismayed when the second rest-stop & turn-around did not appear at 14 miles. No problem though as we pedaled up to it at the 15 mile mark. So we had signed up for a 14 mile route, decided to try for the 28, and completed 30 miles when all was said and done!

It was a lovely ride. Beautiful area, well-organized, plenty of support & volunteers, etc. As usual the cyclists were very friendly & encouraging. We also saw a neighbor & one of Mark’s co-workers. And a highlight of the day was running into Frank, George, & Steve—three really nice fellows who have provided ‘bike support’ for the wheelchair athletes in the Texas RoundUp 10k. Since Mark & I skipped that run this year in favor of the Red Poppy Ride, it was nice to run into these guys at a bike ride. Steve did the 42 mile route; Frank & George did the 62 mile route. We 'caught up' with Steve at the 2nd rest stop (no matter that he was on the return part of his trip having already completed nearly 30 miles) and we 'passed' Frank after the last rest stop (well, he had completed more than 50 miles and was changing a flat as we went by, but we did pass him.) We saw them again at the end of the ride and hope they’ll pass us on another bike ride soon.

They don’t call this the ‘hill country’ for nothing, and it was a challenging ride. The good news is that I didn’t need SAG (support & gear), EMS, or a push up any of the hills. But all that time on the hills gave Mark some time to take some photos (you can click on the ‘2009 Armadillo Classic’ slideshow to see them) and me some time to ponder. Here are my thoughts about some things that apply to life as well as to cycling:

1. If you’re going uphill, don’t worry about what other hills & obstacles might be ahead. Just focus on the challenge you are currently facing and when you need to stop and take a rest, see what beauty is around you. Even when we're facing challenges, the beauty of God's creation is around us.
2. Always, always take the encouragement & good will offered to you by others—and when you get the chance (and there will be a chance), pass it on to someone else.
3. Don’t envy the folks going downhill on the other side of the road—they might be coasting now, but you don’t know what else they may have had to face. Take pleasure in their enjoyment of the downhill ride. Likewise, don’t detract from their pleasure by telling them about the hills to come—they have been on this ride too; they know there are more hills.
4. When you’re going downhill, enjoy the ride. Don’t miss out on the pleasure by worrying that an uphill is coming. That next uphill is going to come whether you worry about it or not; if you focus on it, you’ll just deprive yourself of the joy of the downhill.
5. It might feel like all ups & downs, but there really are some flat places here and there. Take advantage of those and don’t use them just to think about the downhills & uphills behind or ahead of you. (Also remember that what might feel ‘flat’ to you might be a bit of an uphill for someone else. So be kind if someone finds that stretch of road to be more difficult than you do.)
6. Finally, remember we’re all in this together. Like life, it is a ride, not a race. I am not judged on the quality of my physical equipment, on my speed, or my skill--and I'm not here to judge the other cyclists either. On the best ride, I feel a part of the larger group of cyclists: I get to encourage & to be encouraged, to rejoice for and with others, and to share our mutual pleasure in taking this ride together.
No wonder I like cycling! Thanks for reading!

Oscar's Big Hunt!

The Mitchell household had a night of little sleep & big adventure!

We had bedded down for the night and Mark was sleeping soundly. Around 1:00 a.m., Oscar, our ever vigilant protector, apparently heard a noise, woofed, and ran to the patio door to growl at any would-be intruders. Then apparently satisfied that he had struck fear in the heart of any man or beast that would trespass in the night, I heard him get a drink of water and expected that he'd go back to sleep.

But THEN, I heard scurrying, canine panic, and a pursuit! Clearly Oscar had the scent of something. I hoped (& expected) that whatever it was, it was outside on the patio. Mark awoke as Oscar was hunting for "IT" through the kitchen, dining room, living room, guest room, and back again; and I was trailing Oscar trying to determine if "IT" was really inside the house.

Then Oscar focused his pursuit on the guest room, clearly convinced that "IT" was under the futon. (Did I mention, he is a good hunter?) Fascinated with the sniffing, snorting, and overall hunting approach, I stayed close enough to watch Oscar. And then, it happened. "IT"-- a small, furry, brown, IT"-- darted out from behind the guest room futon and ran into the living room. And I ran (well, I moved pretty darn fast) to our bedroom. You can probably figure out the next thing--Mark, now fully awake, quarantined Oscar in our room so that he wouldn't get "IT"; I stayed with Oscar (okay, I admit it--I hid out), leaving Mark to evict what I was sure was a rat.

Then as I stood on our bed (just in case it was in our room), I heard Mark say through the closed door: "I don't think it is a rat." Now, I didn't have my glasses on (this was 1 a.m. after all), but unwanted, unexpected, brown, furry, scurrying--that all spelled rat to me. After much reassurance, Mark coaxed me out of the bedroom where I assumed a perch on a dining room chair (again, just in case) in time to view a little bunny cowering under our sofa! (I guess he was looking for the garden--or maybe he wanted cooked carrots!)

Mark caught him under a plastic box, we slid a piece of cardboard under, and then set him free under the moonlight. I figure he told his friends and family that he was trapped and cornered by a vicious dog (which to him may have looked like a Great Dane); I'm sure he was relieved when his captivity came to an end.

As to how he got in, only the bunny knows for sure. We surmise that earlier in the day, Oscar flushed him out of the garden and, with few options open to him, he darted into an open door.

Mark & I settled down after the adventure and went back to bed. Oscar was confined during the capture and didn't witness the bunny's being pardoned. Convinced he was still in the house, Oscar continued to hunt until well after 3 a.m.

Oscar has slept most of today.....