copyright Kelly Ann Thomas, 2004
Spring is my favorite time of year – and unfortunately, I never seem to have enough time to savor the moments that bring me so much pleasure.
The flower gardening bug hit earlier than normal this year. My neighbor gave me a 5-foot plumbego from her bed. I didn’t have a spot for it, so I moved my potting bench to the other side of the yard and built an enormous flower bed, much to my husband’s annoyance, as he hates weeding beds and made me promise to seek a 12-step program for my gardening addiction after he spent a whole day weeding the beds last year. I am looking forward to summer, when the plants and vines are in full bloom. I have every shade of purple, red, yellow, orange, pink, and blue in the garden. My neighbor is aghast that there is no white “to cool it down”, but I want color. The only white flowers I have are the irises in the front, but the former owners planted those. (One of the few things they did right!)
I have at least 40 peaches on the Flordaking tree I planted to mark Vladimir’s grave. I didn’t think the tree would produce the first year, so I am absolutely delighted by the thought of making a peach pie or cobbler from my very own fruit tree – my first fruit tree ever.
My vegetable garden is planted. This year we are growing tomatoes (Heirlooms, such as Purple Cherokee, Orange Oxenheart and Old German, and some traditional varieties like Early Girl, Celebrity, Superfantastic, Lemon Boy and Sweet 100s) and peppers (sweet banana, red bell, Hot Hungarian Wax, Super Banana, and Habanero). I found a spot for a cucumber and zucchini plant, too. I might be able to add a summer squash plant if my sunflowers don’t take up too much space near the fence. I have a bunch of herbs, such as lemon verbena, cilantro (which you should never plant near a tomato, by the way), peach sage, lemon grass, and a variety of mints. (Lemon and mint keep mosquitoes away, but lemon attracts bees and should be planted away from the house.) I have lots of basil sprouts from last year’s crop. Unfortunately, it tasted more like the anise variety, which doesn’t appeal to me. I’ll plant lemon and sweet basil next weekend. (You should not palnt different basil – or mint - varieties side by side, as plants lose their distinctive taste and aroma, or one plant – especially lemon – will contaminate the other varieties.)
The azaleas in front of my house are just beginning to show off their hot pink, white and lilac blooms. The trees (save for the pecans) are bursting with yellow-green buds, which are also dusting thee cars with pollen. I’m toying with the idea of planting a few fuschia bougainvilleas along the south side of my house next to my office window. And then I’m done. Well, except for the empty pots on my patio that need summer flowers. And the ferns which I want to plant along the fence next to the pecan trees. And the vines to hide my old fence. Then I’ll be done - for the season.
Maaco is showering my Volvo with lilac metallic paint as I type this. Yes, Sugar Magnolia will be in the Houston Art Car Parade this May, provided Team Karma spends more time working on the car instead of perfecting the margarita recipe during their brainstorming sessions. The only downside to her new color is dealing with the TX DOT and County Assessor’s office, both offices of which almost caused an emotional meltdown on my part after spending three hours running to different offices because the less than competent employees in the Spring office were, as previously stated, incompetent and lazy ass county employees looking forward to their two million dollar pensions. (This has been the big buzz in Houston – the city pension plan will create instant millionaires out of many 20-year employees.) I know people complain about the MVD in just about every state. I even worked for the MVD in Arizona as a contract worker in the tax analysis unit. I managed to do more work than four of my colleagues combined, probably because they spent all of their time on extended cigarette breaks, yapping on the phone to their families, and eating or planning what to order for lunch. Or in meetings complaining about their workload. I was adored by most of the truckers because I was the first person they had ever dealt with who was not only courteous, but also on their side. Most people asked for my direct number, which always added to my workload, but was flattering I suppose. I engaged in so many acts of good will that most of the truckers will never know about, though sadly I was only doing what I was supposed to be doing in my work capacity. The incompetence was overwhelming. The system was designed to screw the taxpayer. I know how the MVD system works, and Texas has the most royally screwed up bureaucracies around. But, hey, a good chunk of the population of this state respects Dubbya’s dubious business achievements, so it’s not difficult to understand why Texas ranks as the most polluted and illiterate state in the nation, hence the Texas DOT. When you get a driver’s license here, you get a temporary permit on piece of paper, with the actual license mailed to you approximately two weeks later. Really. When I lived here eighteen years ago, I was issued a plastic covered license the same day. It must be the arsenic in the water. Why else would the license issuing process devolve into a piece of paper? None of this matters if you plan to own a vehicle in Texas. Upon entering the dismal office of the DMV (or whatever they call it here), you are asked if you own a vehicle. If the answer is yes, you must produce evidence of insurance and registration before you can get a driver's license. You could lie, and it would probably be easier for your sanity if you just todl the lady, "No, I'm planning on buying one next week." You cannot register your car at the same office. If you want to renew a special plate, such as my animal friendly tag, then you must go to the DOT. Some of the county offices can handle the plates, but it appears to be at the discretion of the management of each branch, since registration is paid to the county, not the state. You must drive several miles away through heavy traffic, only to be told you must first have the vehicle inspected. If you have a vehicle older than 1996, many stations cannot give you an inspection. I’m not sure why, so again I will just hypothesize that it is the arsenic in the drinking water, which is probably how the Bush family got its power – polluting the land and water supply until the average citizen is mentally incapacitated and will believe the lies without question.
Hmmm. I seem to have some pent up rage against the DOT. Flashbacks are a bitch.
I have had a technological black cloud hovering over me for two months. I have also worked on some painting and landscape jobs, plus tutoring, plus a ski trip, taxes, and planning a trip to Ireland in the spring. And catching up on two years of the Sopranos. And the art car. And writing to some soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. And I am also know a Precinct Secretary for the Democratic Party in Texas – and let me just tell you that the whole caucus thing is just as screwed up as the Texas DOT/MVD/County Assessors’ offices, which drew me in like a bad horror flick just so I could make sure my vote counted – and will count, as I refuse to use my status as a precinct delegate to vote for Kerry so it looks unanimous. In the process, two people changed from Dean to uncommitted after my passionate speech about staying true to one’s beliefs and not voting for the lesser of two evils, so there’s hope for Dennis yet. Or me, as I now have three people (including myself) who will be voting for me in the November elections. Perhaps even six or seven by the time I’m done campaigning. Pretty impressive, huh? Now I just have to navigate the Texas, Florida and Arizona write-in candidate information so they know just which Kelly Ann Thomas to credit with - the dare I dream? – ten votes, or maybe even 100,000 votes in Plam Beach County. I’ll start my campaign late in the summer so as to minimize campaign expenditures that involve quantities of free alcohol for those promising to vote for me. I’m not buying their votes – I’m taking the Bush approach. Keep them mentally incapacitated until they step into the voting booth, which is actually not a booth in most parts of the country. Or I can get them drunk and drive them to an early voting station, thereby limiting my campaign expenditures to an early happy hour, which lessens the potemtial Willie Horton techniques undertaken by the Kerry campaign on the eve of the election that might involve an absolutely, totally fabricated story that when I was two, I threw my newborn sister away in the kitchen trash can, telling my parents we didn’t need her. That should surely endear me to some “Contract with America” Republicans, but it might scare off some of my more progressive friends who think I am a good person, hence the reason they agreed to vote for me instead of John Kerry. How could they vote for someone who would toss a baby into a trash can? I can't even blame this on Mr. Horton approach himself, Hail Caesar!, not when you have a sister working for Kerry.
Not that it matters because I think Colin Powell will be in the White House come January 2005. (That’s another post, though, as I have digressed enough.) You saw it here first, if you have waded through muddled prose to this point.
The updates have been sporadic for the past couple of months because I was a.) enjoying life, b.) Roadrunner, which is oversubscribed in my neighborhood, and c.) dealing with the wrath of Bill Gates. I think I called him the Anti-Christ one too many times and it set off a black cloud chain reaction. I still think he is the Anti-Christ, though. And when someone says, but look, he’s given so much to charity, I must remind them, hey, it’s my money he’s given away, the outrageous profit from the $500 I shelled out for MS Office. 50 million lines of code! He probably designed systems for the MVDs throughout the country.
All this craziness has come at a bad time, as I got a slew of hits last month that almost brought me to my band limitation limits, and yet I haven’t had the time to write anything original. I have taken several news breaks as well, because all it makes me want to do is bang my head against the monitor in frustration. Such is life.
I do have my gardens. And some letters from soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan, which is very cool. Everything is going very well (unless it involves Bill Gates). I miss my cats, though. A lot. I went to a shelter yesterday to play with the kitties. There were two cute Maine coon cats, one was just precious (as was his name, “Precious”), taking over my lap for several minutes. Rob doesn’t want another cat yet, so for now I will continue to remain catless.
Well, the sun is breaking through the clouds, so I will leave my inner sanctum and water my plants.
Happy spring!
