aaaahhhh......

Fresh cherry tomatoes are like the healthy version of crack.

I had a whole bowlfull of them here a few minutes ago and now... well, now there are only about half a dozen rattling around in there. A quarter cup of spidery stems are all that remains of the rest of their brothers and sisters. Each one was a small orange globe bursting with tart, sweet, juicy perfection. La!

Summer Again

I'm watching the green give into gold

As summer becomes October's cold

Gravity begs

For one final kiss

She drops it to him as she gives in

Traces of light linger around

As laces of white fall to the ground

The softest of sounds for the heaviest things

And the pain that it brings

As she falls I try to catch her

For one last touch of warmth from summer

As one thing leaves to becomes another again

I remember when

Don't remember the day she started to fade

The ground felt a chill as she gave it away

A whisper, a sigh for the time that she passed

But this winter won't last

As she falls I try to catch her

For one last touch of warmth from summer

As one thing leaves to becomes another again

I remember when

Oh, to be with summer again

The days were warm and we wore them like skin

Now I feel the effects of October again

As she falls I try to catch her

For one last touch of warmth from summer

As one thing leaves to becomes another again

I remember when

Oh, to be with summer again

I'm watching the green give in to gold

As summer becomes October's

cold

-The Afters

Straight Lines, or, When You Give a Perfectionist a Garden

The garden is planted. Well, half of it. I got in the stuff that can stand the cold: peas, carrots, spinach lettuce, and onions. I really hope that everything comes up. I got mocked by a little old man walking his dog. He stopped at the end of my driveway:
“You tryin’ to grow something?”
“Yes. Vegetables.”
“Pretty damn cold.”
“Oh, well, I’m only planting like my carrots and onions right now.”
“They might come up.”
I certainly hope so. It has been really freakishly cold this spring. Just a couple weeks ago it finally stopped snowing and this week it has started to warm up a bit. The grass everywhere turned green overnight and the magnolias and cherries are blooming. Spring always makes me really excited and happy. But it is still pretty cold. Being my first garden experience, this makes me a bit nervous, but Mom assured me that I am actually about a week behind and she knows her stuff.
So. Planting is not so bad but I had to resist the urge to use my ruler for everything. I have actually had rulers taken away from me because I am too much of a perfectionist. I satisfied myself by marking on the sides of the garden with Sharpie every foot and then following the plan Mom and I came up with yesterday (2 feet of peas, 2 feet of carrots/spinach, 1 foot of onions, etc.) I did, however, lay a yardstick across to make sure my rows were straight. :P And I just have to say, I LOVE the pelleted seeds. I remember planting carrots and lettuce when I was a kid: you just sort of sprinkled the teeny tiny seeds out there and had to go back and thin out hundreds of tiny plantlets later. These things almost feel like cheating! I’m not sure who came up with this, but whoever he is, he gets a point! :)
After I was done I laid chicken wire over the whole bed. This is to keep the neighborhood dogs from romping in it. Also to (hopefully) deter the local rabbit population: Back and Forth, To and Fro, and Hither and Thither and Yon.
Finally, I gave it a light watering and took a couple snapshots for posterity. My work is done - for now. :)