Friday, May 10, 2019

Man Oh Man, You're MY Best Friend. I'll Shout it to the Nothingness. There Ain't Nothing That I Need.


Well, the weather for most of this week sucked a$$, but last weekend was amazing. I was smart enough to take Monday off, so I had three whole days before the weather took a turn for the worse.

How did I know it was going to be such an amazing weekend? Because one of the first things that happened when I got off work on Friday was that I found a morel mushroom in my front yard while I was cleaning out one of the flower beds. So, now I have proof that it pays to wait until WAY too long to mow your yard for the first time in the Spring.


If I could have arranged a perfect three day weekend for myself that included most of my favorite things, last weekend would have been it.

I started Saturday with a trip to the Farmer's Market. I got all kinds of goodies. Since we only had one morel mushroom and I had never had them before, I bought some oyster mushrooms. I also got John some black walnuts. He loves them and they are hard to get at a regular store. I bought some herbs to plant in the garden and I bought a 6 pack of Mennonite made cinnamon rolls. I kept one for myself and gave the rest to the kids.


Speaking of gardens, my friend Carrie went to Marengo because she found someone selling these cool, old tractor parts for $10/piece. She asked if anyone else wanted one and I said, sign me up. I love the way it looks in our garden...And I can always use it as a very heavy Ninja Star when anyone pisses me off.


I spent much of the morning in the garden. As I always say, having a front yard garden is a super social thing. I cleaned beds and planted things I bought at Earl May and my neighbors stopped by to ask me what I was planning and talk to me about their dogs and one of my neighbors stopped by and said another neighbor was having a plant sale down the street and that I should go with them. So, I did. I got a thyme plant for $3 and got to meet the woman having the sale and check out her amazing backyard, chock full of all kinds of flowers and plants.


I ran home from the sale to make a quick lunch before our friends came over so we could all go on a bike ride.

We pedaled about 50 miles to Sutliff Bridge and back. It was such a beautiful day for it.


On the way home, we stopped at Big Grove in Solon and John and I split a small shrimp and asparagus pizza and salad.

I feel asleep pretty damn early that night. I was exhausted.


On Sunday I woke up and went for a 3.5 mile run. Since I wasn't in a huge hurry to go fast, I decided to do a little plogging - picking up trash while I jogged.

This time I found a plastic bag from Walgreens and a face mask. It gave me an idea to create a story around the garbage I pick up. A Walgreens bag and a face mask? It could be an environmental short story, or some kind of medical drama...


After the run, I ran around town dropping off seedlings for my friends. One of my friends traded me for more of her seedlings - red kale, some kind of funky marigold and night blooming tobacco (I've never heard of it before, so we'll see what it grows up to be).

I dropped some stuff off to one of John's ex-girlfriends and she traded me for a loaf of fresh baked sourdough bread. I really do just give out seedlings and stuff because I like to share. I don't expect anything back at all, but it is really nice of people to do trades. It feels so sweet and old timey.


On Monday morning I went for a nice five mile run. The temperature was perfect and all the flowering trees looked and smelled so damn good.


I got home from my run and hung some laundry on the line, made myself some tea and peanut butter and honey toast, then sat on the porch and read a little of my book before I started working on the garden.


Originally, I was going to go for a bike ride in the afternoon of my Monday vacation day, but after I spent most of the morning digging new garden plots, planting seeds and plants and roots, I realized that I had way more work to go, so I decided to skip the ride and and spend the rest of the day working in the yard. I figure it was still a work-out, just not training for specific sport.

I was so happy after playing outside in the dirt all day. I was going to make veggie lasagna for dinner, but we went to Shakespeare's for dinner instead. It was nice not have to cook after working in the yard.

Sooooo, I got to do all of my favorite things in three days - I rode bikes, hung out with my kids and friends, got a couple of runs in, worked in the garden, and ate really good food. It still amazes me that I have such a great life. There were so many hard years for me when I was younger. Being older for me means I finally know what I need to do to be happy, I have a partner in crime to play with, I am still able to do those things, and I actually do them. What would a perfect weekend be for you all? Do you love to play outside or inside? What makes you happy? I hope you are all able to do the things you love.

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