Blog-azic

testing testing 1-2-3 am i coming through fine? check check mic check.

Lots of things are coming up in the garden: sunflowers (I've planted 3-4 varieties, some ornamental and some with edible seeds), summer squash, pumpkin, zucchini, beans, peas. I planted even more last weekend, and with luck those will come up. One of my roommates put plant starts in some of the areas I seeded unaware that I had done so. Still, there was very little growth, I imagine, from the seeds after only a few days, and so I feel that many will still come up. I've gotten a few perennials seeded as well: lavendar, flax, daisy, black-eyed susan, chamomile, and of particular delight to me, baby's breath (the small white flowers often paired with roses). In addition to all of that, I've spent many an hour this past month digging up plants growing wild and transplanting them into our backyard. Of note: goldenseal, waterleaf, cohash, violet, jack-in-the-pulpit, blood root, spicebush (this is a tree-ish shrub that I hope can establish itself), daisy, buttercup, geranium, ...

A few weeks ago, I found some delightful jingle bells on the back porch. They made a surprisingly clear and piercing jingle, that was still so soft and delicate that when you heard them you couldn't help but imagine a sweet summer breeze, or the pitter-patter of tiny feet angels' feet dancing on your ceiling. I strung the bells onto a bit of dogbane I'd twisted at home during the Christmas break, and then carried that string of bells in my pocket for about the next week. About me was a haze of silver music, little tinkly notes, and I couldn't help but imagine that everyone thought to themselves that I was somehow very pleasant and soothing, that they could not put their finger on exactly what it was, but it's almost as if they heard bells when I was around. Perhaps it was all that jingling raucous that put the "spring" in all the plants around town (below, an excerpt from an email to my sister): Ooooh. Sandstorms? That does sound exciting. I imagine runnin...

"all's well here. work is going great. we did some very adorable art projects last week - all themed with animals in polar regions. a narwhal coloring page, penguin suits, a tiger mask. no, not a mis-type. there exists a polar tiger. the amur (or siberian) tiger is the largest of all tigers, and inhabits the far east of asia (russia, mongolia, china). it is in appearance very similar to it's warm-weather cousins, excepting that it can be much larger (up to 10 feet, i think). the amur tiger is an endangered species. from what i read, it is concentrated into two regional populations. in one, the tigers number about 450. in the other, less than 50. reasons for the tiger's tenuous hold onto survival all trace back to man. however, in captivity the tigers numbers are high (it being bred as early as the 1950s). in addition, the captive population shows a greater genetic diversity than the wild population. this seeming incongruence likely results from a population decline in ...

And so, here we are again. I behind a glowing screen, madly typing. You on the other side reading with interest: "The boy returns, eh? And why the long pause? And from whence come thou?" Hmm... where to begin? Well, I've been in Athens, you know, since the last post nearly one year ago. At that time I was busy searching for work, and eventually I found some, and it came unexpectedly from an old friend, a Ms. Ashley A. whom shared the ACME Co-op from the fall of 2006 until the summer of 2007. It was at a party across town when we met in the cold winter of 2008, and she related her occupation at a day care. "Actually, they are hiring right now, if you're looking." So, in the span of a week, I was set to begin working Ashley and Kim in the Toddler Room at Stages Early Learning Center . And, I've been there ever since. Minus a short break in the summer, where I visited Ashland, NC for a Gathering and spent many long days gathering elder flower and brewing i...

I have made it back home .... "home" .... to Athens. Walked into the co-op unannounced on Sunday afternoon after a rousing morning of hitchhiking from the Columbus area. People were surprised. Last they'd heard, I'd be heading out to California to visit with a friend. I was supposed to ride out there with a friend, Rose, but we both decided against it. So, I high tailed it for home.... "home." Lord, it feels rather strange to be back. I'm busy searching for a job right now. No place seems to be hiring - that seems to be the trend these times. I searched in Puerto Rico and came up short. And, then on my way back north from Orlando, I stopped in Atlanta a few days. I was walking back to the hostel late in the afternoon when I noticed a help wanted sign on a restaurant I's passing. I went in and filled out the application and took a test. The first part had lots of math. It reminded me of my high school days when I absolutely loved math class. Seriously...

Flew into orlando, hitch hiked to Jacksonville. the first guy that picked me up is named paul, a korean war vet - a machine gunner. told me that his machine gun would cut people in half. once, his unit was backed up against a rising cliff with the chinease marines attacking. he said those marines would tape-up their torsos so that the machine gun couldn't rip them apart. "it gave them three extra steps," he said. "that's scary." he was saved in korea, is a presbeterian. he kindly took me all the way from orlando to daytona beach and left me at a gas station near the highway. soon, i got back on the on-ramp and stuck out my thumb again. tell you what, you can tell who's not gonna pick you up by the kind of car they're driving. if it's a nice car, they're not gonna stop. well, i got passed by by some real nice cars and i began to think i was on the wrong ramp. then this janky old van rolls up and i knew he was gonna stop. mark used to follow th...