TG

my gardening this year is still at the “virtual” stage. This is the time of year that all of the new seed and nursery catalogs come out, so I’ve done a bit of leafing through those to get in the mood (although I probably won’t buy much from them- I still have enough seeds from last year for most of what I’ll plant). And reading about gardening is another way to experience it vicariously.

I actually read this book a while ago, but I never posted about it. The book is called Paths of Desire: The Passions of a Suburban Gardener by Dominique Browning. I was really surprised at how much I enjoyed it. When I noticed that the author was the editor in chief of House & Garden magazine I thought “Isn’t that one of those magazines filled with beautiful, unattainable photos of rich people’s homes, sort of like Architectural Digest?” And when she mentioned that her lot was small- “less than a half acre overall,” I thought even more strongly that I wouldn’t be able to relate to it, with my tiny 4500 square-foot yard (that’s about a tenth of an acre). But overall I thought that the book was very well-written and down-to-earth. It’s definitely not a “how-to” book, and her resources were certainly on a different level (the only time I saw her balk at spending money was when she wanted to replace a broken-down concrete retaining wall with a stone one and was quoted $80,000 for the job!) but I think that most people with a “small” yard and a passion for gardening would be interested in her trials, tribulations, and successes.

I read a library copy so I don’t have one to lend out, but if anyone’s interested I saw it listed used on Amazon for as low as $4 including shipping!

These were a bit difficult for me to get rid of- they are the pants I used for winter hiking when I first moved out to Colorado. But… That was 27 years ago, and they are just a bit too small now! ;) Plus I have some better pants for cold-weather hiking now. So, I donated them back to the thrift store where I originally bought them.

I really don’t expect anyone to be able to park correctly all of the time. Several times a year I get out of my car and find that my parking is screwed up- at an angle, too far from the curb, too close to the line, sticking out too far, etc. The difference is that I get back in the car and fix it! It only takes a minute and really takes no effort. Then why do you so often see people parked so badly- especially when they end up using two (or more!) parking spaces?!

This came to my attention last month when I stopped at a local burger joint. It was lunch time and the small parking lot there was nearly full. It didn’t help that one spot couldn’t be used because some dumbshit had backed into a spot at an angle and one corner of his vehicle was 3 feet into the adjacent spot!

I normally carry a notepad or some blank envelopes in the car so I can leave a comment on the windshield. Usually something like “Nice parking, jackass!”