Random Tuesday Things

Since I don’t work anymore, long weekends don’t really have the same impact. But my wife is still working so when she takes a day off, it does make things different. She actually took Friday off so we book-ended the weekend by going out to breakfast/brunch on Friday and Monday. Maybe this is a sneak preview of what life will be like when she does decide she’s had enough of work.

After breakfast yesterday, we stopped at a place that sells annuals. At this time of year, the selection is limited and many of the flowers are a little scraggly having been stuck in their little pots since early in the spring. I do end up feeling a little sorry for these leftovers that nobody seemed to want. I know they always produce far more flowers than can be planted so there will always be a surplus.

Yes, it probably sounds a little silly to feel sorry for flowers but they are living things and they were brought forth for one reason – to provide color for the summer. These will end up being mulch or landfill or whatever happens to the left overs that don’t get sold. Like they never get to fulfill their purpose.

I hadn’t really planned on doing any more planting but I figured I had some space I could use and so I ended up rescuing 14 of them. Buying at this time of year is a bit tricky because they’ve been stuck in the little pots for so long that they sometimes don’t break free and thrive when released from the pot prison. But at least they’ll get a chance.

Now, you probably say that flowers don’t have feelings and you are probably correct. I’ve been raised with enough science and logic to know that it is unlikely. Then again, there is so much we don’t know so I’m at least open to it. I suppose if I had a large bit of ground and endless resources, I’d probably just buy out the entire stock at the end of the planting season. (Well at least from the places we tend to frequent)

We did have a new batch of baby raccoons show up the other day. I don’t know where they’ve been hiding because they only show up when they are mobile and starting to stray away from Mom. Yesterday, we were out on the deck and I was checking a bird feeder and just happened to look into a little tree just off the deck and one of the little ones was clinging to v in the branches.

I heard a noise and saw Mom with the others down near the lower deck. She was eyeing me since I was getting close to the baby but wasn’t really going to do anything. I tried to let her know it was OK. Then I sat down in a chair to watch for a bit. At first, the baby tried to go higher but the branches got smaller and it was windy and that wasn’t a good idea. Eventually, it figured out the way down and scrambled down the tree to join the family.

I don’t know how many generations we’ve had in the time we’ve lived here. We’ve joked about trying to tag them with some kind of color just so we could identify them and see which ones hang around. Now, we aren’t going to do that. Still it is fun to watch baby animals as they try to figure out the world around them.

One thing about yesterday being different is that the trash pick up gets pushed back. So I’ll have to remember to take it down tomorrow. Then, I wonder about the trash people because all it does it push things back a day. So they get the long weekend at the cost of having a short weekend because they need Saturday to pick up what would normally be picked up on Fridays. Wonder if that is worth it.

Anyway, that’s all I’ve got for now.