It has been exactly one week since planting and the first little tomato seeds are starting to sprout. Right now only about half of the 18 sections have seedlings coming up but I’m sure the rest will come up in the next day or so.
Before planting my tomatoes in the garden I first have to grow the little guys inside. Instead of buying mini seed pots from the store I just cut the top off my egg carton and made that their home.
The garden is all set for the 2010 veggie season. Now I just have to decide what vegetables to plant. Right now I’m thinking that there will be beans, tomatoes carrots and squash. I’m excited to see what other seeds Fred Meyer has to offer.
If it somehow slipped past you, today is Valentine’s Day. Usually on this day we celebrate by enjoying a nice dinner and a bottle of wine. But, this V-day is different. You are several thousand miles away. There will be no fancy dinner or bottle of wine. No dorky Valentine’s cards or token box of chocolates. But, I can’t say that it really matters. Expressions of love occur every day—not just one day out of the year. The nice dinner and box of chocolates don’t count as much as the daily pep talks (Yes, there are daily pep talks). They don’t count as much as believing in my dreams even when I begin to doubt them. And, they certainly don’t count as much as the way you make me feel.
Happy Valentine’s Day, sweetie. I love you.
Trapped indoors
When I first arrived in Baltimore, numerous people told me to prepare for a harsh winter. This was back in August when the sweltering heat and sticky humidity made me want to pack my bags and head home. At that time, a harsh winter sounded absolutely delightful. I like winter, I thought. I mean c’mon I’m from the Northwest after all. It’s practically winter there all year long, right?
Uh no, I’m hear to tell you it’s not. We might think we have winter all year long, but it’s nothing like what I’ve seen during my short time in Baltimore. The first inkling of a storm hit last Friday.
I sort of thought people were overreacting. People rushed the supermarkets stocking up on all sorts of emergency reserves. The lines snaked all they way from the registers to the back of the store. Holding my basket filled with cereal and milk, I bided my time debating the necessity of such items and observing what others found to fill their carts. I imagine you can tell a lot about someone based on what they have in their cart. This is how I spent my two hours. Seriously, two hours. I should have left in the first five, but after 30 minutes devoted, I couldn’t leave. That would have meant those 30 minutes were wasted time, which I can’t abide. So, I swayed side to side and observed people’s carts. One guy in particular caught my attention. Apparently, ding dongs rank high in his life. I counted eight boxes.
But, I digress. I thought people were overreacting just a tad. I mean, those meteorologists get the weather wrong all the time. Three feet of snow, bunk! That is, until I woke the next morning to find ourselves trapped inside the house with four foot snow drifts blocking our doorways.
Since last Friday, we’ve remained trapped indoors as storm after storm rolled through dumping nearly six feet of snow. The record accumulations caused snow-imposed study sessions but after a week of no classes, I’m ready to head back. Wouldn’t you know it though – more snow is predicted for Monday.
