gardening: observing, planning, designing, and editing
Since I had not quite gotten around to posting this although I finished it three weeks ago, I have added datelines so the narrative makes sense.
February 9. Last week was fairly awful weather-wise—following an unpleasantly damp, cold month with very little snow. We got off easy, considering that Monday morning the weather people were saying “3-5 inches of snow,” and by Tuesday morning, it was more like “11-15 inches of snow.” Continue reading “The Groundhog Day Slush Storm”
It is three days shy of six months since I last posted, which is utterly ridiculous for a gardening blog. We are all in the same boat, and many people, including some of my students, have had it far worse than I did. Do.
The dumpster fire meme for 2020 is a fitting one. Students were quarantined, students were hospitalized, and students were attending funerals for people who should not have died. Almost everyone I normally see on Sunday mornings for coffee came down with COVID last fall. Thankfully, they recovered. Continue reading “The Longest Short Winter Ever”
It’s been over a month!
I have had surgery for an eye problem. Happily, my vision was much improved within a week, and it is still improving. It was worth doing, and I am very grateful to my doctor for talking me into not waiting until the end of term.
Meanwhile, Covid-19 was rumbling around in Asia as we looked on bemused by the sometimes apparently draconian governmental measures used to get it under control.
However, it landed on our shores. We are a peripatetic species after all, and our bugs travel with us. Spring break was extended for a week, and then everyone was sent home. For our students that meant packing and moving suddenly midterm; for faculty it meant, and still means, triaging the remainder of the semester’s curriculum and figuring out how to effectively deliver it online to our stressed and distracted students.
Finally, as a country, this week we earned the dubious title of “Most Infected People in One Country.” And that’s without even knowing how many people are infected, as only the obviously ill are getting tested due to snafus and shortages.
Clearly, we need calming distractions. I shall attempt to provide a few; I took photographs in March as I grabbed odd moments here and there. There are flowers, snow, plants breaking dormancy, and garden-maintenance projects, with more maintenance to come this week. I will attempt to write up how-tos for most of the maintenance projects, as getting out in the garden is one thing we all can do as we shelter in place.
Stay well and stay safe.
