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| Take It Easy |
At the Ichabode, coffee is an event once or twice a day. Yesterday, Sassy was excited to hear Ranger Bob was coming over. I had to leave the front door open a bit to satisfy her anxiety. Bob wanted to discuss El Salvador coffee; his co-worker was surprised to hear coffee was grown in his homeland. Bob took the bag with some beans to prove it.
We discussed the HMS Hood and the cost of used books on the subject. He discovered late in life that his father was in the Navy, on a carrier. I grew up along the Mississippi River, and I enjoyed rowing upstream and exploring those anonymous channels that led to the frequently flooding river. Once I saw a Blue Heron fishing for food in the shallow, quiet water - and it majestically took flight as I splashed closer.
A book on the Hood, the pride of the English Navy, can be bought for $200, but also for a few dollars plus shipping. Bob was alarmed that I ordered a number of titles, but he was calmed by the extraordinary low prices. I failed to tell him that some went to Baby Andrea by mistake and would be arriving late.
How many people want to discuss the Hood versus Bismarck? Or was it the Eugen? That is the strength of the Net - getting people together to discuss obscure events. Bob filled me in on the quality of German gunnery versus the Brits.
I made hundreds of bismarks at the donut shop, the closest I got to serving in the navy.
I must go down to the shop again, to the bismarks and the rolls,
And all I ask is some bread dough, and some stainless steel bowls,
And spices kick and the radio on and the mixer shaking
And vanilla in the icing and the egg shells breaking.
They introduced the original poem to us in high school, and Moby Dick as well. Was I programmed for naval history? I wonder.
I must down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,
And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by;
And the wheel’s kick and the wind’s song and the white sail’s shaking,
And a grey mist on the sea’s face, and a grey dawn breaking.
I must down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide
Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied;
And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying,
And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying.
I must down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life,
To the gull’s way and the whale’s way where the wind’s like a whetted knife;
And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover,
And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick’s over.
Our steady use of coffee means I use the grounds in the little paper filters that fit on the device for pour-over coffee. Creation Gardeners know that coffee grounds are beneficial for the soil. The didies look unseemly on the backyard garden, after a winter of tossing them toward the Butterfly Bush and filling the collars around the Crepe Myrtles.
I had a perfect set up yesterday. A Poke Weed was coming up near the AC unit, with dozens of didies around its base. Cardboard was in abundance, and I had some shredded Cyprus mulch. I put cardboard around the highly prized weed - good for the soil, the favorite source of berries for many birds. And then I poured mulch on the cardboard. Now the weed is a distinguished plant and the didies are even more active in feeding the soil. Soil creatures like darkness, moisture, and the remains of trees. And coffee grounds.
I did the same for the new roses and gave them plenty of rainwater. Recent articles say gardening makes people happy. That explains why chigger bites, thorn scratches, and aching muscles move people to dig, cut, prune, and sow.
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| Parade Day Rose |
