I set up the coffee maker and began going through the news at 5:20 AM. I check the Drudge Report first, because he drives the broadcast news with 1 billion views per month. I am extremely disappointed in poor writing on the American Spectator and other blogs. My favorite round-up for news is Free Republic, because they link the most important stories and features - good and bad - with the actual titles, followed by commentary.
Free Republic got me started in blogging when they kicked me off for posting that George W. Bush is a liberal. They erased all my posts, some of which were commended as best of the day (quips) or unusually insightful (about Bill Clinton's early connections).
I look for the overnight statistics on Ichabod and check Facebook for birthdays and new developments.
Time for fresh coffee. What? Nothing there. Fresh coffee grounds in the basket - check. Water in the tank - check. Plugged in - check. Power on..... I missed one little detail.
I do this every so often. I complete the early morning coffee making instructions but omit one detail. The loss of any given detail means no coffee - or worse - coffee all over the floor because the pot was not empty when I started it.
Creation Details
No one can list all the details in Creation, since a plant operates like a cluster of chemical factories at the cellular level. In growing roses, I may do less than 1% of all the work involved - and that may easily be boasting.
I do not do more work than other gardeners, but I aim the work to be in harmony with Creation rather than defying the way God made our world, engineered each part, and manages it now.
These are the Four Noble Truths of Rose Gardening
- Mulching - roses need moist soil and a supply of rotting organic matter.
- Watering - rain is not enough, and stored rain is the ultimate booster.
- Pruning - roses love to be pruned and grow even bloomier with extra pruning. John 15:1ff.
- Earthworming - red wigglers do the most obvious work of gardening, but not all of it.
The first three are ongoing tasks. The last one should be once for all time, but it is fun to buy some additional earthworms and share them with neighbors. I often give them red wigglers before I share plants.
Weeding is greatly reduced by mulching with organic matter. More important is leaving the soil alone. No one would transplant their favorite rose every few weeks, because we know about roots being left behind and the shock of moving the plant.
But people gladly move the soil all the time and buy huge machines to toss more soil around per second. I stopped at one yard sale where the owner had a mega-tiller for doing just that. And he had a very large tank for spraying herbicides on his lawn. "I don't spray any more because my neighbors have dandelions, so I have to start all over again." I said nothing but thought about four years of leaving the dandelions alone and having almost none. Dandelions are herbs, help the soil, and provide birds with nesting material. Where is the crime, the indictment, the evidence against them?
My wife and I are happy about a wedding invitation for December, a young couple I taught at the local college. Both were home-schooled and excellent students. The bride began college with 40 advance credits toward graduation. One staffer asked me, "Do you know how smart she is?" I responded, "Did I notice the 1,000 watt bulb in the room? Yes." I made the arrangement below for them, but realized they should see it live, not just as a photo. December is too late, unless we have freaky weather this year. So I am taking a new arrangement over in a few days, when they are done with choir tour.
