Summer siesta months

I’ve gotten a couple of runs over the last week or so.  Nothing memorable, nothing earth shattering.  Just about a mile or so and a pretty decent pace (still no chrono).  I think I’m about ready to start tracking the runs on a regular basis and picking up the distance.  Marathon sign up is looming on July 17 and I STILL haven’t decided whether or not I’m 1. Going to Chile or 2. Going to run the marathon.  What I might do is still go to Chile to get school out of the way, and then sign on for a run a little while later—like Surfside or Austin.  My hunch is that a few of the Houston blog-runners will be making the trip to Austin, plus at least one Houston refugee is staying out there, so it might be worth the trip.  Plus, I can say that I traveled for a marathon, which gives me extra points in the running world that I can eventually redeem for a pup-tent and lantern.

 

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The spring flurry in the garden is finally winding down, too.  Harvesting veggies, removing plants, preparing beds, replacing plants, adding hardware, removing hardware, re-adding hardware, reconfiguring beds, and finally figuring a way to protect what you have from bugs and birds is a 2 month process that really doesn’t wait for your schedule.  You do what you need to and move along.

 

In more northern climes, the spring season isn’t quite the traffic jam it is down here.  Down here the early spring garden is giving way to the summer planting schedule, so you have one load coming out as another is going in.  Up there you don’t have anything coming out, only things going in.  The stuff I harvested last month will be maturing soon up north.  Very different gardening worlds.  Very different.

 

In fact, in about another month, most of my garden will be starting to nap through the hottest days of the year, only to be reawakened at the very end of August.  A thick layer of compostable materials will be laid over the fallow beds and they’ll begin their quiet period.  It’s kind of interesting having two harvests.

 

Oh, I also get the opportunity to turn the compost pile this time of year more frequently than other times.  The hot sun helps to break down the yummy organics into material that’s very useful for the garden come next spring.

 

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Speaking of compostable material, I took a little trip through my spam filter and found several cute little piles left by the resident troll.  I also noticed the piles slowing down over time.  Glancing over the piles I noticed, as usual, nothing was an original thought but rather reposts of other people’s words with no commentary or explanation, all of it either misrepresents facts and positions or flat out lies or denies reality, and is perfectly suitable for the compost/spam bin.  I do sometimes wonder how much of what I write is specifically formulated to be troll bait and how much of it can’t be formulated any other way except to enflame the very sensitive (and self important) nature of troll.  But, then again, I remind myself that trolls are simply trolls—sad little insignificant and anonymous creatures that lurk under bridges and only harm travelers who give them the time of day.  I am coming to believe that a spam filter is the best antidote for a troll.

The invitation remains, though.  Offer an original thought as a retort—not a repost of someone else’s idea or opinion, but your very own idea or opinion—and I’ll grant your cute little steaming pile a forum.  But if the best you can offer is name calling, misrepresentation, and a link to someone else’s idea, then you’re just going to have to stay in the spam filter and wallow around in the wasteland you helped create on yahoo groups.  But the good news is that I found out that I just won a Dell XPS and the former finance minister in Nigeria needs my help!!

 

Meanwhile, here’s some bait for you to chew on, troll-boy.  Since President Obama’s inauguration, North Korea has tested ICBMs, launched missiles, tested nukes, launched more missiles, backed out of the cease fire agreement, launched more missiles, kidnapped two American journalists, launched more missiles, “convicted” said journalists, launched more missiles, thrown AMERICAN JOURNALISTS into a labor (death) camp, and launched more missiles.  The response?  A stern look, a wag of the finger, and a warning not to do it ever again or we’ll enforce those sanctions we passed the last time you pulled all this shit.  We REALLY mean it this time.  Really really really.  Because, you know, the world proved with the whole Iraq thing that it takes UN sanctions and enforcement seriously.  They’ll all totally line up to enforce them again.  Totally.  For real this time.  Really.