Nothing's going on

It's been rainy just about all week. We haven't been able to do much in the garden, except borrow a truck (thank you Ms. S) and get some materials to do the hardscaping. We planned on doing some BBQ'ing on Saturday, but it was too cold and rainy to be outside. As you can tell, it's been great for the grape vines, but not so great for pruning.

I really need to get out there and do some pruning.

But the rain has made all of the various lilies we planted this year very happy. All of the tiger lilies have finally blossomed, including the two that we transplanted.

These are the Tiger Lillies that were here when we moved in.

The orange one on the left is the Tiger Lily that was transplanted into a pot to make room for the blueberry bushes. Also notice the yellow Asiatic Lily on the right. That was a surprise.

Our long absence seems to have given license to a couple of neighborhood cats to hang out in the weeds in their attempts to get at the birds. Smokey must have been inside. He truly believes our garden is only an extension of his yard. The intrusion of these interlopers would not have been taken to very kindly.

If you look closely, you can see the orange tabby and a calico hoping to snag a bird.

Dr. S from Miami is visiting. As usual, the gentlemen are gorging themselves on zombie/horror movies and man-flicks. Reportedly, The Hangover is very funny. I preferred the short descriptions of the funny scenes as reported over lunch to wasting my time on actually watching the film. Of course, I'm sure they would say the same about some of the movies that I would like to see (Breakfast at Tiffany's anyone?). Today they are exploring the micro-breweries and pubs of Providence, RI. I'm not entirely sure why, but these are not questions a wife asks of her husband. I only ask that they come home safely.

As many of you know, I am on the Board of Alternatives for Community and Environment (ACE). I've been a member and supporter of this environmental justice organizations for over 4 years now. I was in the office the other day and had the chance to meet a couple of fellows participating in the Vermont Law School's Environmental Justice Young Fellows Exchange, who were shadowing ACE staff all week. The gentlemen and I decided to join them and The Indomitable GB at a pub later in the evening. One of the fellows was Jon Ostar, co-founder and co-director of OPAL Environmental Justice Oregon. They have set themselves out to the ACE of the Pacific Northwest. So, to all of my friends out in that direction, please check them out. And if you can, send them a check.

Other than that, the Good Mr. Dr. continues to make progress on his book. I am just about finished with my industrial place to park space tour. Planning for the tenure party continues, as does the super-secret birthday present. I definitely need to make some time for reading. I paid for this book on experimental economics. I suppose I should be reading it.

Thunderstorms of all kinds

Over the past couple of weeks, we've had some fantastic thunderstorms. The kind that shake buildings, trigger car alarms, and make your cat sleep on your head. Personally, I prefer thunderstorms to the steady, constant, flooding rain we had in March. And they demonstrate that we are small in comparison to nature and the rest of the universe. It's like nature saying, "Go ahead and built your 1000 ft skyscrapers and ski resorts in the desert. I can strike you down in an instant."

Thunderstorms bring rain, something called micro-bursts, and even mini-tornadoes. But since they haven't resulted in flooding, it's good for the garden. And the garden apparently has been feeling good over the past couple of weeks. Within 7 days of planting them, the pumpkins and the sunflowers have already sprouted. Apparently, I failed to mention that the Good Mr. Dr. has also planted nasturtiums, which have also started to showing their little heads. It's been two weeks of glorious sprouting.

The Asiatic Lily

The rose bush had to be cut back dramatically. But the marigolds and the wild mint are doing really well.

A really happy geranium.

It turns out that the pumpkin seeds should have been planted with a bit more distance in each mound than we did. However, seeds in two mounds have decided to sprout slightly outside of the mound.

Sunflowers, marigolds, and weeds

I continue in my quest to control the rose vines, which seems to reaching a plateau at the moment. No epic battles this week. But I did do some serious grape vine control. You have to make sure that the leaves are able to get sun, and you have to also control the budding grape bunches. For table grapes (sorry, no wine grapes this year), you are supposed to keep it to one bunch for every 12 inches or so. I don't think we'll have too much problem with that.

Grape vines that are being strapped in to get them to grow in the right direction.

One potential grape bunch.

We celebrated the progress in our garden, the start of summer, and honored those who serve in military by inaugurating our BBQ.

First BBQ of the summer.

Steak tips, corn, fruit salad, and beer. Life is good.

The neighbor's cat Smokey joined us. Those of you who were here last year during the big housewarming and graduation party should remember Smokey for his attempt to run into the basement in his search for someone who would give him food.

We managed to resist him, although he did sneak a lick of our plates when we got up to look at something in the back of the garden. You can tell he is not a starving feral cat.

There were also political thunderstorms this past week in Massachusetts. Our state senate passed a blatantly anti-immigrant (and ineffective and costly) amendment to the state budget in a middle-of-the-night backroom deal with the senate president. Suffice to say, I was quite angry and shot off letters of admonition to my senator who voted for it (the coward) and to another senator who I know and work with who voted against it (because she's a right-thinking person). I and several neighbors also attended a rally to protest this amendment, to demand that it be removed from the budget, and to show solidarity with those fighting the even more egregious anti-immigrant/ anti-Latino Arizona laws.

Continuing the tradition of fighting for justice at the Boston Common.

Rallies aside, I still have work to do, so I headed across the Boston Common to get to the Boston Public Library. Two of my neighbors and their kids walked in the same direction when we came upon this:

Each flag represents a Massachusetts resident who lost their life fighting in all wars through the current one.

East Boston kids who joined us for the rally pose with a Navy Captain (that's what he said he was).

In other news, we received notice that the Good Mr. Dr., in addition to receiving tenure, has also been promoted to Associate Professor. Round of applause to him. (clap-clap-clap-clap-woo-hoo!)

In even bigger news, I found my long-lost childhood best friend. She is married, a nurse, has two kids, and all is well with them.

Finally, happy 6th anniversary of legally recognized union to my friends C&B in Natick. I hope that one day, your anniversary is only important as a testament to your commitment to each other, and not as a sign of social progress.