I am amazed at how disrespectful people have become. This rant is not directed to any of the stupidity going on today simply because I have become totally disgusted at the "poor me" society that has been pampered by everyone trying to be so politically correct (and to those doing the pampering. Suck it up, people. YOU are the problem.) but is aimed at people who cannot even respect the world which we all share. What is wrong with people??? You notice that I do not even call them "folks"...they are people. Folks are kind. People seem to be just frustrating and I am just about done "peopling" for good. I find myself respecting critters far more than most people. I sure like them a whole lot more so it is only natural to respect them more. In fact, most people don't have half the sense that critters do.
What started my frustration is the insolence of whoever is throwing invasive pond plants into the Back Bay. This is far from mere ignorance. This is stupidity at its worst. Does anyone care any more? What am I saying? Obviously not. While a lot of folks do not think twice about the water plants being in the Bay, I do. These plants often grow just to the size and quantity of the pond they are in but, hey, toss them in a huge bay and guess what? They grow to fill THAT "pond"! So what, you say? Well, that just creates a big, ole mess. The native fish cannot breath, sea turtles become ensnared (if the plant is a vining type) and algae can now grow and bloom at a rapid pace. Soon the bayous are clogged. Then, the creeks pouring into those bayous are clogged. Now...there is no place for rainwater to flow. Get ready, folks, your sweet little yards will become flooded. Oh, my....that means your cutesy, fish ponds are backed up with sewage since the sewers are flooded. Aww, poor cry babies...your pristine pond (where you just cleared your pond plants) now has nastiness bubbling up like some bilge pump. Way to go. Do not complain to me. YOU threw the plants into the Bay. YOU were too lazy to discard them in the proper way. YOU did it to yourself. So wipe your own tears and maybe do a wee bit of research before discarding your trash.
A huge mass of pond plants floated under the pier yesterday. Mark was kind enough to help me make my first hike to the pier in two weeks and what do I see? A mass of plants about ten feet in diameter on one side of the pier and a big, roll of some type pond grass on the other. Then, in the marsh...trash...trash..trash that probably came from the same trashy people who dumped the plants. My faith in humanity has gone out the window. I am so over it.
Back during the winter (or as I call it "lack of winter"), Son needed to use the table saw that was in the back yard by the shed. Since he had been using it every day or so, he would not move it back into the shed but, rather, would cover it well. When he went to remove the cover, there were hundreds of leaf-footed bugs hiding beneath the cover. They were a bit surprised that their overwintering spot had been discovered and scattered about the place before I could douse them with bug spray. I hate those things! They ruin more tomatoes than any other critter. Well, almost. This year, the squirrels have hauled off about half of my tomatoes but, still, the leaf-footed bugs do their damage, as well.
This year, I have been fortunate as to not see nearly as many of the bugs as in the past. Today was the first day that I spied four or five on the tomato plants. Well, whoopee-doo! The tomatoes are all gone for the moment so the bugs may be a tad discouraged. These bugs have piercing, sucking mouth parts that would blotch each tomato before it ripened. Hopefully, they will be so downhearted that they will move elsewhere!
The leaf-footed bugs are true bugs. They are distant kin to those nasty stinkbugs and, like them, do emit a foul odor when squished. This afternoon, I smacked three of them and the stench was pretty bad. At least, I managed to get rid of those! If you look closely at the above photograph, you can see why the bugs are named as such. They have a flared growth on their hind legs which gives them a leaf-footed appearance. While I am pleased that I have not seen too many this year, I really could do without them altogether! Go away, bug!!
Sometimes when things are a bit rough and you find yourself fretting over what is not in your control, it is easy to lose sight of how many blessings are at hand. Right now, I am dealing with a few things that seemingly have no satisfactory ending so it feels only that there are worse times ahead. These things are not able to be "fixed" and weigh heavy on my mind. For several months, I thought I was handling the situations well but, today, that idea all came tumbling down around me and made the day look dismal. It felt that I was alone in my struggles. I needed an "escape" so I headed out the back door to just breathe. It seems that a bit of solitude can really put things back into perspective so I hiked my new path. It did not take long for the mood to lift so I headed back to the Little Bayou House. I was still perplexed about how to handle things and still saddened by the inevitable outcome of the situations but, at least, I felt that I could face what was to come.
My stroll back to the house took me past a few flower gardens and into the east arbor. It was at the base of this arbor that I was taken aback by the sight of a single bloom. A daylily had burst forth with all its beauty. How had I not noticed this before? Three times, I had passed through that gate earlier in the day and not once had I seen the flower. I knelt down and cupped the bloom in my hands and, strange as it seems, felt strength being poured into my soul. I smiled. With a renewed spirit and a happy heart, I could face the world again. Throw me your best shot, Frustrations! I've got this.
You see, that daylily was a gift from my precious daughter-in-law. No, she did not mean it to be the end-all cure for the world's woes and, as matter of fact, it was not even a true gift just a sweet gesture. She just happened to have extra daylily rhizomes and called to see if I wanted some. Long story short..I was truly thankful for her thinking of me. The daylilies were a bright spot that I could turn to in my down times. Today's bloom was perceived as a sign that I did, indeed, have the power to prevail! Joanna will probably never know how her small act of kindness has been a light during so many dark times but, then, she is pretty amazing and makes the whole world a brighter spot by just being herself.
Why, oh, why is it so difficult for salesmen to think it is beyond a woman's capability to know a thing or two about building or mechanics? I am beginning to think I shall never go to the local home supply place again unless I find a woman employee to assist me. Case in point...a couple of years ago, Darling Daughter and I needed two wooden circles about an inch in thickness and twenty four inches in diameter. I knew the place had them but when I asked two male employees, I was told "We do not have those. Get your husband to come in and get what you need." That did not sit too well with Darling Daughter and, needless to say, she was a bit more calm than I would have been about their courtesy. I felt like having a "board meeting" right up side their heads but knew that might get me arrested so I let her handle it. She calmly told them that their attitude was unprofessional and one she could do without. One of their managers overheard the conversation and, well, that was that. We got our boards and, to be honest, never saw the two employees again.
It was in this same store that I asked a salesman where I might find a wood plane and received the reply that they did not sell toys. "No, sir. I need a wood plane. It is a woodworking tool." The man looked at me and point blank said that they did not sell woodworking tools. "WHAT??? You are a lumber yard and do not sell woodworking tools? What do you call saws, hammers, drills, sanders and routers?" He just looked at me blankly and said "Oh, those are tools. What did you need?" Never mind...I will find it.
Then, today...I called the same place about an air volume control for our well pump. Thankfully, a woman took my call. I had hopes that all would end well. I carefully explained what I needed and asked if they had any in stock. "Let me check" she confidently answered but things went downhill from there. She asked an associate to help her find the item. He then proceeded to act like I had no idea what I needed and tried to sell me a shutoff valve. "Nope. I need an air volume control not a shutoff valve." He asked for my husband. Grr! Yes. My husband is usually the one that has to deal with these salesmen...thankfully. I would not have the patience. He does. My immediate thought was, "Dude, I am about to smack you silly!" (No, I did not actually say that but so wanted to.) Instead, I gave him the model number and asked if that helped. Get this! HE asked if it was a "little thingy that looked like a spaceship." Oh, my....I shook my head and said "Yes! And if you look really close, you might actually see the little aliens that operate the thing." (Yes, that really did slip out of my mouth.) Our conversation quickly ended. I do not think he was amused. I was. Perhaps he was just lost in space.
To be totally honest, the air volume control did slightly resemble a spaceship but I was not expecting that to come from someone who just assumed that I had no knowledge about the pump part. It seems to me that if you are going to be helpful to folks, at least be slightly familiar with what you are selling and DO NOT make the assumptions about the capability of ANYONE! Aside from all of the (almost) humorous interactions with sales people, I still do not have my pump part. Son had to jury-rig the pump to keep us with water until the new part arrives in a week.
Several years ago, I had to do something that was new to me. While container gardening seems to be the rage with most folks, I was used to planting things in rows in the ground. Growing up on the farm, we had never heard of planting things any other way. Sure, Mom had a few potted plants that sat on the front porch but this new idea of boxed gardens had not even occurred to Pop. In fact, I think he probably would have laughed at it and said it was not gardening at all. But, as I said, I had to resort to this method of gardening and, for a while, it was good. The whole idea was to keep the voles from tunneling under the rows and raising the garden well up off the ground did a good job at that and was also easier on my back. It worked well...for a while.
Earlier this spring, I noticed that the garden boxes were showing a bit of rot and knew that their time had come to an end. I was hesitant to rebuild them as I am always trying to ease "one more season" out of things. Well, that season did not happen. Recently, Mark and I were poking seeds in one of the raised boxes when I noticed that it was listing to one side. Hmmm. a nice shove righted the box but also produced a loud cracking sound. Oh well, it could be worse, right?
The "worse" came sooner than expected as, at that exact moment, dirt started pouring out the bottom of the boxes! Two large holes dumped everything...soil and seeds...into a heap beneath the boxes! Oops! The boxes now resembled something from a Bugs Bunny Cartoon from long ago. He used to raid gardens and pull carrots and cabbages from below ground and now my boxes had huge holes as if Bugs had been at work! "One more season" was never met. The boxes are demolished and I have no gardens at all!
Back a couple of months ago, I had dozens of small tomato plants in the greenhouse. These were just the right size to plant out in the garden so I offered several folks a few plants for their home gardens. I had no takers except for Darling Daughter. She took 16 plants home to put in planter boxes. To that, she added a dozen pepper plants and is waiting on a few eggplants. She is the only one who took the effort of planting a small garden. Other folks all made the comment that they "did not have the time" or it is a "lot of work for a few tomatoes/peppers/eggplants, that I can get at the store." That said, I planted...and planted. My garden plot grew in size just as the plants did. Soon, the entire east side of the yard became a vegetable garden. Not only did I plant in rows in the ground but I also utilized planter boxes, flower pots, old shrimp baskets and stuck vegetable plants in the flower gardens. The plants did well and soon set all sorts of blooms. Now, fast forward two months and I am harvesting healthy meals from the back yard. Darling Daughter is doing the same.
Now that I have fresh vegetables and fruits for our meals, folks are coming out of the woodwork to say "Oh, I will take a few tomatoes! We love fresh squash! You have far too many peppers and onions." Keep in mind, these are the same folks who turned down my offer of plants just a couple of months ago. While I am all for sharing the wealth, I am not all for those who take advantage of others' hard work. Nope, I do not have far too many of any vegetables or fruit. What we do not eat fresh will be canned for later. Some jars will make it all the way to Georgia (son, daughter-in-law and grandlittles!), some will go to Darling Daughter and her hubby's place. A lot of fruit, berries and vegetables will be doled out to our elderly friends. Why, I will not even hesitate to give a couple of these or a few of those, if someone asks but do not demand! I will share but not with those who are ablebodied but too lazy! The "Little Red Hen Syndrome" strikes again. Some folks just take, take, take and never wish to lift a pinky finger to help.
There is a wise saying that folks can only take advantage of you if you let them. Although it is hard for me to do, I have learned to say no and stick with it. Only those who shared in the work shall share the bounty. I am willing to share plants and seeds and I am eager to teach folks the art of home-canning, dehydrating and freezing fruit, herbs and vegetables. Do not, however, expect me to do all of the work then come demanding the fruits of my labor. It ain't happenin', folks, it ain't happenin'!
