It was an adventure filled day.
First off, we went to a local garden store and learned that the annuals are only just coming out. I want marigolds to surround my garden, particularly since I observed a squirrel jumping around in it today. Maybe he was frustrated that I’ve been dumping tobasco on the birdseed in the feeder. Birds, so I’m told, lack a receptor for capsaicin which is the active ingredient which makes most hot peppers hot. Squirrels, being mammals and therefore morally identical to humans, do not share this lack. Bunnies and squirrels also hate the smell of marigolds.
On the way back from our failed mission to find marigolds, we noticed a car pulled to the side in front of us, with fire underneath it. Not wanting to be driving by when the gas tank blew up, we stopped off at the store across the street from the spectacle and watched it play out. This happens to be the really good local fish market, so it wasn’t too shady. We, along with a growing crowd, watched this car burn all the way from front to back over the next 20 minutes. Yes, they had called the fire department. Eventually a truck showed up with two guys in it who hosed down the car.
The flames as the car went up were excellent. I’ve never seen such brilliant oranges and reds in a fire before. At some points (when the upholstery went, for one), there were vortexes and swirling columns of flame shooting out of the windows. Each tire exploded with a satisfying “pop”, and the gas tank went with a deeply unsatisfying “whizzz.”
Eventually, we bought some salmon / spinach rolls for dinner. They’re on the grill now.
After that, we went hog wild on the yard. I removed the last of the marble chips from the middle section where we removed a fence. Okay, I didn’t really remove the last of them. I will never remove the last of them. But, I got it to a state where when I look off the porch I don’t think “dammit, look at all those marble chips.” That’s good enough. I also hacked limbs off some of the trees, to “raise the canopy” and make it so I don’t have to duck my head while mowing. A brief trip to Home Depot later, I had the sealant paint that one uses to cover wounds inflicted on trees in this way.
Jen planted four more roses (in addition to the four already planted last weekend), plus: 5 astilbe, 4 hosta, a shell vine, 3 white dragonflowers, 3 red penstemon, 3 blue butterfly scabiosa, 3 wintergreen, and 5 purple winter creepers. She’s a maniac, I tell you.
Then came the fun part: breaking rocks with my sledgehammer. These were the big rocks I couldn’t get out of the yard last year using only a shovel and a pry bar. Oh sledgehammer, is there any task to which you aren’t suited? Intellect: 0. Brute force: 1.
After all that, I blew hour after hour playing Doom 3.
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