It is Tuesday and the moon is full. The freaks are out of the wood work. The corner market was filled with kooks and tweakers when I went to pick up a twelve pack of bottled beer for a dinner party Trish and I were hosting. The morning, as I walked the dogs before going into work, was buzzing with activity. An underlying hostility may have been subdued by the chill that had crept into the spring time air on this first day of the month of May. I overheard snippets of menacing telephone conversation: “I’m telling you I didn’t take your envelope, I don’t know what you’re talking about.” And then a slamming door and something falling off of the side of the shrouded house and smashing into the ground. A bone-thin middle-aged man with a graying fu-manchu style mustache zips by on a home-made gasoline powered stand-up scooter. The lady at the end of the street who used to think that the FBI had set up shop across from her is bumping hip-hop at quarter to seven in the morning. It has all the makings of a strange day.
There will be thirteen full moons this year – usually there are twelve – and two of them will be occurring this month. The second full moon in a single month is known as a “blue” moon. I’ve always liked the color blue. We have a few blue rose bushes in the yard.
The Grass is Green Enough
My family has been going through a trying time and while there have been some real tough emotions to deal with I’ve also learned a great deal. Ultimately I find myself to be utterly content with my life here in Chico. I have a nice house, a decent job, two ill-behaved but very sweet dogs, and, most importantly, a very strong and wonderful relationship with my wife. We have family and friends who have reached out when we’ve needed it and backed away when we needed space. So the grass may be greener somewhere else and that’s fine. But as far as I’m concerned the grass is green enough here. To get really green grass you have to load it up with chemical fertilizers anyways and we prefer to go organic.
Go Warriors!
By the time you read this the Golden State Warriors may have choked and been eliminated from the NBA play-offs but hopefully, and my fingers are crossed, this will not be the case. Right now as I write this the Warriors still have a couple games up on the top-seeded Mavericks and are poised to win there way into the second round of games. I’m an East Bay boy and when it comes to basketball I am a Golden State fan through and through – and basketball has always been my least favorite sport. But that may change this year. The Nascar boys ended at Talladega under caution, Barbaro’s demise has soured me on horse racing, I can’t deal with Barry Bonds and his steroid-fueled charge to the home run record, and the Raiders are, well, the Raiders. So this may just be the year of the Warrior for yours truly.
Sow What You’ll Reap
Now is the time to get your gardens tilled and planted. I spent the weekend turning over our compost pile and planting our tomatoes and peppers. This year we’re trying six different heirlooms including a green tomato, a Russian Black Krim, a tomato so sweet that it cannot be transported, as well as Sweet 100 cherry tomatoes and Early Girls just because they produce so darned fast. As for the peppers we’ve got Anchos, Jalepenos, Serranos, and Red Chiles. Trish will probably pick up a Thai Pepper eventually. They tend to produce well and dry easily also. We are so lucky to live where we have such a long growing season. My sister and her family live on the out-skirts of Burlington, Vermont, and right now they are mired in the “mud season” – a month-plus long period when the ground that was frozen completely solid thaws out. Mud.
Puzzle Piece Show
The 24 Hour Drive-By Galleries annual (bi-annual?) puzzle-piece show kicks off this upcoming weekend and the reception will be held on Friday May 18th. The shows been growing in size and spirit since its inception and I’m sure this latest installment will not disappoint. I’ve painted a little piece for this exhibit. See if you can find it amidst the artistic and visual mayhem that is this wonderful show.
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