small encounters, big impact

Good morning! How's your day goin' so far? -- this from a big guy, and I mean a really big guy, while unstrapping the timber from his 18-wheeler for the roof of the house under construction. I'm walking Millie at 7 a.m. in the morning and though we often see construction workers arriving on the site at that time, it's rare that any of them pay attention to us. Millie hesitates now. She's not sure about this -- the big guy, the huge truck. In the end, deciding that canine duty is being summoned, my pup lets out a series of high pitched barks and little growls that wouldn't scare a butterfly.The big burly guy laughs: oh, I know that yap! I have two Yorkies at home!

You know how some ordinary event sometimes makes a deep impression on you?  Like, two days ago, an elderly garden store shopper tells me -- oh, you're taking the cart back? I could have done that for you! I'm heading in that direction. Or some random techie-looking young man (tech guys have a certain air...) asks me at doggie daycare pickup -- oh, tell me, what is your dog's name? Nothing is unusual here. Polite small talk, really. And yet, what is unusual is this random warmth, coming from unexpected places. To add to the incongruity of this morning's exchange is learning that my huge construction guy has two tiny yapping Yorkies -- well, that just made me smile for the rest of the morning.

...Even at breakfast, though it's a chilly morning and I last outside for only a few minutes

I brush Millie then. She is getting more rebellious about this, but I am undaunted. I dont want tangles! 

 (don't you look nice all brushed like that!)

 

 

And having tired her out with my efforts, I put her in the crate and go out to Steffi's House, where I plant my great big beautiful Frida Kahlo rose...

 

 

... a lily (not a day lily! recognize the difference!), and a Meadow Rue. This last plant was hard to find, but I finally came across one at the greenhouse and I grabbed it. The one at the farmette is huge and it blooms in the weeks where not much else is yet flowering (that in-between-spring-and-summer time). And of course, I water everything. We are having a very dry end of spring.

I do also stop by the farmette. To dump compost and pick some peonies...

To claim some dirt, and to scold Ed for being a reluctant helper. (He would disagree with that characterization.)

It takes me three hours to do all this. But of course it does. Without the pick-axe, I'm back to chipping away at the clay with my shovel. Hard work, but I persevere. And I see out of the corner of my eye the neighbor from across the street coming toward me. I quickly run through the things I may have been doing to annoy him. Maybe it's that I'm dumping the clay on the construction site next to Steffi's House? Or that I'm picking out rocks from there to plug up holes in the stone wall at Steffi's? 

None of that. On the contrary, he tells me -- you see those rocks and boulders in my garden? I didn't bring them here. I went to where they were first tearing into the land and picked out some really attractive stones. In fact, I'm always on the lookout at these sites for interesting and beautiful stones. Would you like some of mine? I have a collection in the garage!

How awesome is that! Not only do I nab two of his, but I feel I have permission to look for more at the sites. Or at least I'm not the only one who picks up a few rocks. And really, why should I worry? The company building next to Steffi's is the same one that dumped that awful clay and rock into Steffi's yard. Take some, give some. They're just burying it all anyway.

By early afternoon I hurry to free Millie. And because she has had such a long nap, I take her to the doggie park for a good run. It's a little toasty now, and she is clearly panting, and yet I decide to cross over with her to the big dog park. She has been with me for two months now and she is getting good at recall. 

 

(I have a dog who can fly!) 

 

Too, I know that she plays well with even big dogs. Moreover, the trail in the big park is longer -- more fun for me -- and it offers occasional shade.

Millie is cautious. New scents everywhere! It isn't until the end that she picks up her tail in a wag. Still, she seems content to run to me, to take pauses, to sniff her heart out.

Oh, she has come such a long way, my most precious pup!

Of course, she sleeps after that. Understandable. This gives me a chance to work some on my lists, to repot some porch plants (a raspberry!), to think about the trip ahead of me. I'm leaving in a week. Shouldn't I start making lists for packing? 

And I should bake for tomorrow's brunch at Sally's House. For my two breakfast buddies. A blueberry buckle with lemon syrup from David Lebovits. 

Evening. I'm starting to be less frantic as everything is more or less falling into place. I'm wondering if I'm too laid back! I eat leftovers, watch a show, read a beautiful chapter from the Monty Don book. I haven't   started writing down all that I have to remember to pack for a complicated yet spectacular trip. At 9 it strikes me that I really ought to bake something for tomorrow's breakfast at Sally's. Putting it off until the morning makes no sense as my guests will be here at 9. So I start in on a Blueberry Buckle with Lemon Syrup from David Lebovitz. It's awfully close to midnight by the time I'm done. 

 (there are 3 cups of blueberries in this thing...)

 

 

Tomorrow I'll make my longtime standard: an asparagus frittata with Gruyere cheese. 

with so much love...