Tuesday, March 29, 2022

After many stops and starts, the day finally arrived. Upon waking up it felt odd yet familiar.

My first day due back in the office after two years. I slipped back into the morning routine like it had never left. Walked the dog, tapped the power button on the coffee machine, showered, dressed (the pains of no more sweatpants!), brushed the teeth (boo hygiene) grabbed the laptop bag, kissed my wife goodbye and drove off, podcast playing before I exited our street.

My initial thoughts while driving were centered around, “I wonder what my cubicle looks like. How had I left it back in 2020?” After that wore off, I looked back longingly on the past two years spent working from home. I was going to miss seeing my wife in between conference calls, bumping elbows in the kitchen as we prepared our lunches. I was going to miss Mia, our 6 year-old mutt traveling room to room, in search of a sliver of sun or a vent pumping out hot air.

A brief thought on how the cost of gas was going to bankrupt me.

A brief thought on how combing the hair was vastly overrated.

A brief thought on how I wish I’d captured my feelings in words the entirety of those two strange, awful and beautiful years. A drive through high school graduation. Sending my son off to college.

The end of Travel softball.

Seeing my daughter off to high school. The joys of curbside pickup, the agony of a Christmas spent on Zoom, and endless walks with my wife, exploring the Delaware Canal with reckless abandon.

And since this is technically a garden blog, a brief regret that I hadn’t done more in the garden when I had nothing but time.

Free time is a funny thing. A blessing I guess, but for me, a true curse. I don’t operate well when I have abundant available time. I need pressure to get things done. Ask my parents about all-nighters spent studying in high school. Ask my boss how I handle chaos but don’t ask her if I could’ve addressed things sooner. And ask my family (actually please don’t) about the number of times I utter “Definitely on my list for tomorrow.”

The garden is no different. Give me only one hour on Saturday and I’ll kick some ass. Tell me I’ve got the entire afternoon and I’m paralyzed by all that I could get done.

I did some things outside the past two years, sure, but I also procrastinated like a champ. “If I don’t get to it today, there’s always tomorrow, or the next day, or the day after that. What else do I have to do with the world shut down?”

Which brings me back to the theme I’ve shared in my prior two posts. Time to embrace a little at a time. Life is busier again and that, fingers crossed, means John The Gardener will return. I like to think he’ll make some serious headway this spring if he can stick to this mantra. Which will give us all more of this:

If the blank slate I’ve created doesn’t send me into the fetal position first …

I waited.

And waited.

And waited some more.

And then finally, at 5:00 pm EST today, we had our first break from the rain.

I dashed from out of my home office (where I’ve been working since March ’20 and it’s not really an office but a desk in what used to be a playroom), grabbed my camera and snapped the following pics, fearful if I didn’t capture this moment in time, I’d regret it when it all disappeared the next day. We’re at peak autumn color right now her in New Jersey, which means we’ll now be heading in the wrong direction.

I’ll savor these shots until Spring Fever hits on January 2nd.

Speaking of Fall, if you take a gander at the latest issue of Fine Gardening magazine and turn to page 30 …

And page 31 …

You might recognize a certain someone.

My garden is a Fall garden. As much as I try to jam in annuals and spring/summer blooming perennials, it truly shines and stands out as the temps drop in September/October. The character is off the charts. It evokes more emotion than winter/spring/summer combined. Now if I could only tap a “pause” button …

How long has it been?

The correct answer is “too long”.

Sorry.

I dipped my toes back into the blogging pond last summer only to disappear again and for that I apologize. I’ll go ahead and make the assumption that you missed me. Or maybe not. Out of sight out of mind, amirite?

Oh, do we not say “amirite” any longer? My bad.

Am I right?

I come armed with no promises upon this return. No big future plans or announcements or any sort of promotion of work outside of here. I missed this place and missed you all and wanted to say hi and share some gardening pics.

How’ve you all been?

How’s your garden looking and how’s it treating you?

Do we still read blogs or is it only You Tube now?

You’ll be happy to know I’m still struggling to keep up with the mess I’ve created in my yard over the years and have sworn it all off more than once over the past few months only to return with vigor and a massive dent in my bank account.

Truth is, I still ADORE it. I continue to cherish the struggle and the ups and downs. I may ache more the next day (FYI, turning 49 tomorrow, HBD to me) and I may continue to make the same mistakes (of which you won’t see) but damn it’s still rewarding.

Having said that, here’s some pics of what I got going on.

Now that the cicadas have calmed down and lowered the volume a few decibels, maybe I’ll share some videos here.

Shit, there it is, a promise I promised not to promise.

I better go before I ramble and do it again.

What is up? How have you all been? Did you survive the never ending winter? Have you been back in the dirt?

Yes, I know it’s been a while since we last spoke. I hope you missed me, even just a little bit? If not, I totally get it. I wouldn’t have missed me and I’m a huge fan of me.

What have I been up to the last three months? Thanks so much for asking.

Writing a novel

Yes, I plotted out a story one night for fun and never looked back. The book is dark, it’s kind of violent, it’s twisted, it’s sweet and it has no gardening references. I just reached the 85,000 word mark and I can safely say that the true first draft is complete.

But here’s the thing: I have no idea if it’s decent or really sucks. Seriously. I have no right to believe I can snap my fingers and write a thriller. But I did just that. And I loved every single second of it. I got such a thrill from outlining, writing, editing, giving up, starting again, getting educated on how to write dialogue, dumping many ideas and coming up with new plot twists. The process was and is super enjoyable.

I now have the draft in the hands of a few others and I wait for their feedback. I received incredible direction from my wife and an old friend from high school after they read an early copy. I did my best to absorb that feedback and I can admit that they were 100% accurate in their assessments. A thicker skin is developing and I’m proud of that.

I’m sure this project will carry on for many more months and I’ll dance between “it’s the first one so it won’t be very good but you’ll learn a lot” and “you have to believe it’s great in order to finish it and hit the ‘publish’ button.”

I promise I won’t bore you with any more details the next few months.

Spring Training

Yes, we went to Port St. Lucie, FL again to watch our beloved New York Mets. Here are a few pics from a few weeks back.

College search

I just returned from a week’s worth of college visits in the southeast. My son is a junior in high school and we’re knee deep in the college prep era. We visited five schools starting with James Madison University and ending with North Carolina State University. It was an insane amount of driving as we ventured as far south as the University of Florida. But it was oh so worth it. A road trip loaded with memories, laughs, fast food and deep life discussions.

And FYI, college is expensive as hell, in case you hadn’t heard.

Life

I’m a coach for my daughter’s travel softball team.

That same daughter is very involved in lots of other things.

Work.

Date nights where we can fit them in.

Which brings me to the reason you’re all here in the first place.

The garden.

I have no clue how I’m going to keep up with it this year. I’m overwhelmed and it’s only early spring. I have no delusions of grandeur thinking I can wake up early each morning or work late into the night in order to pull it off. We have multiple softball games every weekend now through the middle of July. Damn kids and their stuff.

Where this blog goes from here I have no idea. I stopped projecting a long time ago. I could end it all together or post three times a week moving forward. The second I make one declaration, I usually do the opposite. So only time will tell.

I did manage to get outside for a bit earlier in the week. And I limited my scope as much as possible. The only way to attack it is to do it in small chunks. Tackle one small section and enjoy that small section when it is done. It’s working, so far.

There is still little going on, but enough to stoke the gardening fire.

I’ll take it.

Please don’t look back on any of my prior year’s gardening resolutions because chances are I’ll be repeating myself here and more than likely, never followed any of the previous resolutions.

Let’s start fresh okay?

As I look back on 2018, I can safely say it was the most underwhelming gardening year for me since I started this blog back in 2010. I can easily blame it on lack of available time but that doesn’t capture the full truth. The truth is I lost my mojo somewhere in the spring and never really gained it back at any point.

But I’m not here today to dwell on that. You’ve heard enough from me on that with prior posts. Today we simply look ahead. Today I implore my future 2019 self to at least attempt to keep these resolutions in mind as the months progress. If I can follow even 33.333% of what I’m about to propose, it can be called progress.

I like progress.

So without further ado, here’s what I hope to accomplish in 2019.

Cherish those plants that thrive in spring

No plant better fits into this category than Lady’s Mantle. Nothing shines more than this perennial on a wet spring morning and nothing fades to crap more in the heat of summer.

Make sure you sit and stare at her more John when she is flourishing.

Expect the worst

I can fight the deer to the best of my ability but at some point they’ll get me. So what, it is what it is. Don’t stress it and just move on.

Chances this resolution is followed: 8%

Get creative

It’s comical how many of the same photos of the same plants I have from year to year. I’m sure you all know it too. It’s the reality of having a gardening blog.

But when I look back, I really enjoy those pics that were at least an attempt at presenting the garden from a different perspective. Yes this is my dumb sneaker, but I can’t lie, I like the pic and the faded color of spring bulbs and spring foliage in the background.

Don’t sweat it

Are you sensing a theme here? A lot of RELAX JOHN.

If the flower color clashes, so be it. I should be happy that they are blooming at all and that the deer haven’t ended the display.

Remember to give up on certain plants

… because that’s exactly when they thrive.

It’s psychological warfare out in the garden and the moment I leave a plant for dead, that is when it bounces back. I’m not above announcing the giving up out loud. I know those bastards are listening.

So I’ll be holding an official You’re done party for this Sambucus nigra in spring. And watch, it will grow taller than two feet.

Get over it

Accept the winter damage and move on.

Add more non-plants

It’s amazing how the space will be transformed. I’ve only been telling myself this for two decades now.

One year it will sink in. Why not 2019?

Look closer

You’ll never know what you’ll find.

Take a few steps back

Embrace the open spots.

Show your warts.

Accept feedback.

Stop hiding the not so pretty.

Stop being boring

C’mon John, you’re better than that.

Bare garden = weeds out the ^&%$^^

If you’re going to clear a new area for planting, plant immediately before the weeds have a chance to take over.

It happens year after year and then most of my time is spent eradicating said weeds.

It’s time to learn my lesson.

No more surgeries

Only during December through February if necessary.

I wasted my September through October this year.