Monday April 30th, 2012

The exercise:

Let us discuss: the odds.

More potting up of tomatoes today, along with some transplanting of broccoli out into the garden. Also there was some hauling ass out of said garden to hide/work in the greenhouse until a rather sudden and intense downpour passed over.

Good times.

Mine:

It finally happened after the fourth drink.

The evening had been heading toward the inevitable pretty much from the get-go but Tim fought it the whole way. He insisted on pointing out the obvious obstacles to success, the humiliation that awaited failure.

But we kept at him. Eddie came up with some particularly clever reassurances and confidence boosters. There was no way we were watching that opportunity pass from the sidelines. We had to send a man in to the fray.

Not that any of us liked Tim's odds with the Miller twins; we were just certain the results would make for fantastic YouTube footage.

Sunday April 29th, 2012

The exercise:

Write about something that is: missing.

This morning Kat's dad and I began work our latest construction project - a deck for our house. During the outdoor time of year (read: the majority of the time) it's pretty much going to double our living space. Plus it'll be nice not to be on the uneven dirt to eat dinner or relax on our chairs.

Definitely a slow start to things, but this foundation stuff needs to be right. I don't mind the project taking a bit longer if it means only doing it once. Which will hopefully be the case.

Mine:

Us kids always looked forward to those rare visits from Uncle James. Not that he was particularly nice, or brought good presents, or nothing like that. It was all the mystery that he carried with him, the endless speculation that sprung up at the mere mention of his name.

Probably would have been less of an event if Mom and Dad would've just told us why Uncle James was missing the middle finger of his left hand. Heck, we weren't even supposed to look at it.

Like that was going to happen.

Me and my brothers figured he'd lost it in some kind of gang initiation, proving he was tough enough to join. Never you mind that Uncle James was as quiet and gentle as a mouse. We just figured prison had scared him straight.

My sisters came up with some total nonsense stories of their own that I hardly ever paid attention to. There was one about a horse biting it off after he waved his finger in its face one too many times. Totally stupid. Uncle James never wore no cowboy boots or hats or anything like that!

We tried to trick him into telling us what happened but it seemed like he was always one step ahead of us. I bet Mom and Dad warned him we were going to try, the snitches.

Now, though? Now we're old enough to go looking for answers on our own.

Saturday April 28th, 2012

The exercise:

A four line poem about: names.

Potted up a whole lot of tomatoes this afternoon. I suspect that in my dreams tonight, the tomatoes shall pot me up.

Thanks for all the kind words yesterday. The due date is November 9th, which leaves me plenty of time to finish freaking out about it.

Mine:

No, absolutely not!

That name won't do at all!

You must pick another -

That's the name of my doll!

Inspired by the four year old daughter of one of Kat's friends. They came for a visit today and Kat mentioned one of the names we're thinking about if we have a girl and that, from what I can gather, was essentially the response.

Friday April 27th, 2012

The exercise:

Four lines of prose about: the favor.

There's been quite a lot going on behind the scenes lately. I think it's about time to bring some of it on to the stage, front and center.

I'm just copying this over from Facebook, where I posted it this afternoon. It wasn't planned for it to be four lines, but since it was...

Mine:

Could you do me a favor?

Go out and do something kind or generous. To a friend, a family member, or better yet a complete stranger.

Because Katherine and I are expecting our first child in early November and we want to bring our baby into the most kind and generous world possible.

Thursday April 26th, 2012

The exercise:

The subject for today is: the program.

It was remarkably rainy here today. Well, it would have been pretty average for a spring day in Vancouver, but it's not the least bit usual to get this sort of sustained downpour in Osoyoos. Thankfully the sun is scheduled to return tomorrow.

Mine:

Last year on the farm, we began selling locally through our website for the first time. We updated the produce list every week and people could order what and when they chose, no minimum requirements, no commitment necessary.

It worked fairly well, but the week to week business was pretty inconsistent. And utterly unpredictable.

This year Kat and I wanted to expand things a bit and get a more reliable source of income, so we're starting up a box program, or CSA (Community Supported Agriculture).

The basic idea, in case you're not familiar with this, is that customers sign up at the beginning of the growing season to get their groceries for the duration of the season. Each week they receive a selection of produce based on what we have available, with allowances for opting out of anything they really don't want.

For us it's nice because it means money up front at a time of year when cash is hard to come by, and we know that a certain portion of what we grow has a destination of eager bellies. We're accepting a limited number of customers this year to make sure we don't get completely over our heads and then moving forward we'll have a better idea of how many people we should be able to supply.

We're still offering the week to week option for those that prefer it, but we're hoping to switch at least a few of our customers from last year over to this new system. In fact, we sent out an email today to our mailing list to give them first shot at signing up (we'll be putting up posters around town next week to fill in the remaining slots).

We were both extremely pleased and surprised when less than two hours after I clicked Send we had our first signup.

Hopefully that proves to be a sign of things to come.

Wednesday April 25th, 2012

The exercise:

Write about: harmony.

I know it's petty, but seeing the Bruins also get knocked out in the first round (tonight, in overtime, at home no less!) makes the Canucks early exit easier to bear.

Got some more planting in the greenhouse done this morning, which is either the last of it or very near to it. Now it's time to catch up with the potting up and work on transplanting out to the garden.

Mine:

After such a long, dull, trying day at work, it feels especially good to be here tonight. To let the music soothe me, allow it to slip the worries from my shoulders and take them elsewhere. Not my problems anymore, at least not right now.

And right now is all that matters.

Just a few moments more and perfection will arrive. I can be patient. I know from experience that the wait is always worth it. This cannot be rushed.

Ah, there she is. My sweet little Harmony.

Excellent, she's chosen the cheerleader outfit for tonight - my favorite.

Tuesday April 24th, 2012

The exercise:

Two haiku on: loneliness/solitude.

You can do one on each, two on both, or two on either one - up to you.

At ten o'clock tonight it was still twenty degrees outside. I could get used to these summer evenings in April...

Mine:

Standing ovation

fails to penetrate sadness;

hollow victory.

*     *     *

Wilderness retreat

leaves crowds, work, stress far behind;

peaceful oasis.