Pesky Critters

After putting up the fence, I felt fairly confident that my garden was protected from the dogs for the year. How could I imagine that it only fueled their destructive imagination?

The last thing I did in the garden was to refill my large pots with soil and plant some flowers. The pots are 18" - 24" high, so they are high above the ground

I went out today to find that the dogs had dug in EVERY ONE of the pots - even though I placed tomato cages (most of the flowers are climbing plants) in each of them.

Apparently that was not enough to keep them from digging, I had to take the next step and make a cap of chicken wire over each of the pots. At least now they cannot dig, I just have to find a way to keep them from climbing up inside and sleeping there.

I have a few ideas about what I can do and am confident at least one of them will work. I remain confident that I am smarter than my dogs though lately there is scant evidence to that effect.

Mostly Green Gardener

While working in the long neglected weed field also known as my back yard, I wondered at what point I would stop pulling and just pull out a sprayer filled with Roundup.

It almost happened at the start of the second day when the aches in the long unused muscles made every move a painful endeavor.

It almost happened when I pulled a handful of weeds that, as it turns out, were growing in a fire ant bed. 

Despite the aches and burning blisters, I managed to avoid the chemical option for this round of weeding; however, I will likely resort to the spray when my schedule returns to normal.

In my garden I endeavor to keep it as green as possible from an environmental perspective. I mulch, compost and plant many perennials. I have managed to maintain herbs for years.

I do what I can.

But sometimes reality creeps in and I resort to chemical assistance to control weeds and the fire ants. Working more than full time and daily tasks of living alone limit the time I can honestly dedicate to work in the yard. I do not use anything chemical around the edible plants, but I will in the rest of the yard and will to control the fire ants – they deserve annihilation and I am only too happy to do my part in it.

Still, it troubles me when I resort to any type of chemical assistance with the yard. I want to be as environmentally friendly, so I do limit the amount that I use to prevent any making it into runoff or otherwise becoming a pollutant. I also do not want to make the ground so toxic, nothing will grow in the space (nevertheless, the idea of salting the area I have covered with rocks has crossed my mind – hey, it is natural, but a threat to groundwater).

For the foreseeable future I am thinking it will be a sore back with an occasional sore hand from the spray bottle of Roundup and I will continue to be a mostly green gardener.

 

Moonflower Season

One of my favorite parts of spring is when the moonflowers start to bloom. I always make my way out to the garden in the evening or early morning to see the blossoms as they close during the day.

One can see when I flower is about to open as it is emerging from the green sheeth below. It folds back up to this position during the day and will reopen for a couple nights.

And in the late evening, all night, and early morning the flower opens. These are large blooms about 4" across and the brilliant white at night attacts moths and other nighttime pollenators.

Without the pistil and stigma inthe middle, the flower could almost pass for a sand dollar with the various marking and veins.

Currently the plant is only putting out a flower every few days, but as it is a large established bush that survived the winter, within a few weeks it will be putting on as many as forty blooms a night, creating a canopy of white covering the entire bush.

Pest Control

Every gardener has to take steps to control the pests that invade any well-kept area – whether vegetable or flower. Since moving into my house, I have had an ever growing (in size) vegetable garden and each year I encountered different types of pests that would do-in my horticultural efforts. Now that I have the grass and most of the weeds under control, I find more bugs than I have encountered in years.

Today as I pulled the winter weeds, I found doodle bugs (we also call them pill bugs because of the way the wrapped up into a ball) around every weed I pulled. I have never seen this many of them in one place before. In childhood, they were fun little critters to play when we found them. I don’t know if they are damaging to my garden or not, but too many fond memories from childhood prevent me from harming them unnecessarily. 

doodleus pillus buggus (seriously people, I have no idea what they are called).

Also as I planted the peppers, tomatoes, and other plants that were pre-started, I found earthworms in every scoop of dirt I moved in the planting process. I did not just find earthworms, I found fishing worms. If I actually enjoyed catching fish, every perch in the region should be afraid. From what I read in garden blogs, it sounds like my garden is overall very healthy and as long as we continue to get rain, it should be quite productive.

My biggest challenge, though, is the four-legged kind. While white-tailed deer are a problem for many gardeners in the area, my biggest pests are my two dogs.

Last summer they ate so many of my vegetables, I thought for a while they may be vegan.

They are still less than a year old, so I know they will continue to dig and chew everything I do not want them to dig and chew.

After considering what to do about my garden, I decided the best thing I could do is build a fence to keep them out of that part of my yard. The country-boy in me relished buying the posts and wire at the hardware store as well as figuring out how to put a gate in the fence so I could get though.

I ended up building a gap (a rigged gate of the same material as the fence). The country-boy in me was running full throttle.

Now my garden is fully protected from the dogs and awaits the next challenge to come it’s way.

Garden Surprises

After having my brief vacation in San Antonio, spring called me into the garden as it does every year. Following last year’s drought and the destruction rendered by two new puppies, my starting point was farther away than I am used to. So I started with the easy part – my planter boxes on the front porch.

I had already been surprised this year by the number of the bulbs I planted last year that came up. I had given up on them, certain they had baked in the heat of the sun against the planter boxes. Now though, I think I had just planted them too late for growth last year. Of course, it has been so long since I put them in that I have no idea what they are anymore.

Paired with the bulbs, I added some flowers, herbs, and garden plants to make the containers both colorful and functional.

And if they are growing veggies, I will be more diligent about watering them.

As I began pulling the weeds and old plants, I discovered that some of my garden plants, peppers and eggplant, from last season survived the drought and winter and sprouts were emerging from the base of the old stalks near the ground.

Who says there is no global warming?

Gardening provides surprises more often than not and for that reason, I anxiously await spring break to get the dirt under my nails and the greenery growing in my back yard.

A Little Bit of History

In order to force myself away from the busyness of work lately, I went to San Antonio for a couple days at the start of spring break to see some friends, eat out, and take in a bit of Texas history. It has been years since I toured the San Antonio missions, so with the perfect weather, I spent an afternoon leisurely strolling through and photographing the (non- Alamo) missions.

 With the beautiful weather and perfect skies, the crosses on the top of the churches on the mission grounds stood out so perfectly, it was impossible not to know one was in a sacred spot.

Over one of the old water wells was an elaborate piece of iron-work. I loved the workman marks in the metal.

 The walls still stand at Mision San Jose with the gun and cannon turrets. Down near the bottom you can see the hole through which a cannon would be fired to defend the mission. Above the cannon area hangs a shelf for gunners to shoot out with the muskets. The rifle holes are too small to be seen from the distance.

 The view out of the turret through the cannon hole. I would be the clumsy gunner who did not have the cannon pointed just right.

 The absolutely stunning Rose Window. It has to be seen to be appreciated. Photos cannot show the elaborate sculpture framing it.

The chapel at Mission Espada remains in use today with a private residence connected to it as does Mission San Juan. 

 

The Outsider

Back in December I bought the Hunger Games series of books on my Kindle because “everyone” was raving about them. When I mentioned on Facebook that I had my next month’s reading lined up, people commented that I had my next week’s reading lined up. I could not wait to start.

Then I could not wait for it to get good.

Then I was considering, “I’ve heard this story before – Romeo and Juliet meet Lord of the Flies.”

Then I was thinking, “How much longer is this book?”

Friends and acquaintances kept assuring me it would get better. It never really did.

Now they are assuring me that the next books are better than the first. I’ve paid for the books, so I will likely read them, but my expectations have diminished greatly.

I have read young adult literature for years while teaching English and afterward as a counselor. The search for new and engaging literature of merit to include in the classroom or inspire reluctant readers kept me reading and I found much worthy of recommendation. I have to carefully consider to whom I would recommend a book about teens celebrated for killing other teens.

When I make statements that I do not care for the book, people give me a most incredulous look that makes me feel I should apologize for not relishing what is popular.

Indeed, I feel like I am living in a young adult drama.

Not only is there a story in the situation. There is an entire genre – and much of it is worth reading.

Contemplating Loss

The passing of Whitney Houston dominated much of the entertainment news this past week, especially as it came on the eve of the Grammy Awards. A remembrance of Harvey Korman on the anniversary of his birth fell next to her obituary in the newspaper. A former co-worker’s son died. All three had me contemplating the impact of loss.

Word of Whitney Houston’s death came as I was listening to the posthumous release from Amy Winehouse. The connections did not escape me. I remembered Whitney as much of the soundtrack of my college years while Winehouse’s music provided the soundtrack for the past few years. Despite the beauty and connections that come through the music, and as so many memories connect to the music of the moment, I never connected to either of these two artists behind the songs.

Perhaps it was that the messiness of their lives distracted from the passion of the music.

Perhaps they were just too far away from reality to really matter.

The remembrance of Harvey Korman struck a deeper chord within me as the article on the 85^th anniversary of his birth (and four years after his death) highlighted some of the deepest belly laughs I have ever had in my life. His roles in sketch comedy genuinely brought out the laughter. I mourned his death in 2008 as much as I laughed at the replays of the skits.

Perhaps it was because he seemed like a real person whose comic escapades seemed to be an extension of his normal life.

Perhaps it was because I am too often the straight-man to my Tim Conway friends.

Word that the son of a former co-worker had died hit most deeply. I barely knew the young man from years ago in church and through working with his mother. Knowing his parents, grandparents, and older brother naturally personalized the death compounding the sadness of losing someone at such a young age.

Perhaps it was because of the hometown connection.

Perhaps it was because I work with young people and the loss of even one reminds me to do all I can to protect all youth.

Contrary to what might be expected, contemplation of the different deaths and their impact did not lead to morose moping, rather they led to a spiritual meditation that moved me into the spirit of Lent. Just as the three deaths moved me in drastically different ways, it moved me to think of loss and sacrifice in our lives.

Profoundly different, loss and sacrifice both fit in the Lenten season. As I consider the sacrifice I will make in consideration of the sacrifice God made for us at Easter, I look back to losses and what they have meant in my life. I compare them to the sacrifices. Losses always take a greater toll.

Sacrifice results from a choice I make.

Loss happens whether I choose it or not.

The three deaths I have been pondering all week long help drive home the distinction. Despite the various levels of connection, there is not at death I would choose for any of the individuals involved.

As I enter Lent, I enter questioning whether there is anything I can sacrifice that equals the loss God must have felt when His Son suffered crucifixion. While I will consider my sacrifice, I will, in this season, continue to consider loss.

Routine II

Even on the weekend, I generally wake up at my normal time of 5:00 a.m. I have done it for so many years that my body rises to consciousness regardless of when my alarm clock goes off. I actually enjoy the early rise on weekends. While many people look forward to the time to sleep in, I look forward to the quiet.

A cup of coffee (well, two pots) and news on the radio let me slip into the day with ease instead of rushing into it from the moment I awake. I start laundry, read headlines, and catch up with twitter and other social media. Even the noise around the neighborhood and from the airport is lacking during the early morning hours.

Now that football season is over, getting up early also gives me the chance to nap in the afternoon, a luxury reserved only for special days.

Due to the hectic nature of my schedule in the coming months and this being the last unscheduled weekend until May, I have enjoyed the early mornings to make the absolute most of my free time – and the nap to give me a little rest going into the week. My house is mostly clean and all my meals are prepared and packaged for the week, so I can head to bed relaxed and ready to step into a busy week.

Now I just have to keep it all together.

No-Zero Grading Policy In Lowndes County Schools Require Retesting Opportunities For Failing Students (UPDATED)

This school district gets it! By refusing to accept zeros and demanding that students complete assignments and re-do them until they are acceptable reinforces the concept that students can (and will) learn and no longer gives the teachers the option of "giving up" on students. I just hope that teachers will not give in and start giving students the minimum 60 on the grading scale to avoid the work of honestly and effectively evaluating student progress.

As a professional school counselor (I'll expand that later), I am shocked at each grading period to see students with grades in the single digits and teens. Such grades are a recipe for growing drop-0uts.

No-Zero Grading Policy In Lowndes County Schools Require Retesting Opportunities For Failing Students (UPDATED):

I pray the teachers in Lowndes get the message being sent by their administration that all students are expected to be successful and that it is their job to move students toward success.

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