Saturday, July 23, 2005

Back Again

I've been putting a bottom in a fiberglass boat in my brother's yard and was still wasted on the resin during my last post. Now that I'm lucid again, Ron only came by to laugh at me because my latest science experiment (living in luxury for only pennies a day) failed so miserably. Little does he know that I have the last laugh. I was so close this time. If I had just had a few more pennies, I would have made it. Now I have to take time off to get my head together, so I can try the next thing.

Meanwhile, I'm definitely mowing the entire pond area tomorrow and should be able to start watering again sometime next week - Buddy creates a sort of violent Dog Water Park and destroys the sprinklers and damages the hoses if I try to water while he is here so my lawn sort of dies but the pond berm is lush. Also, the new "Race down the fence" game that he has with Bill's dogs has caused lots of changes to the trees and plants along the fence between Buddy's yard and the pond area. Bill's dogs are destructive to be so small, they've stomped all of the plants in the flower bed on their side, and Buddy has broken all of the branches from the height of his head (maybe 2 1/2 ft.) to the ground on the pine trees along his side of the fence. I would never be mean to them about it, I would do it if I were one of them, but I will persist beyond when they will lose interest in that particular game, and plants will eventually grow there, or not. This attitude could be why I've never won Yard of the Month in all of these years.

The moon was still almost full, and completely incredible last night. I sat in the yard for over an hour feeling the breeze and listening to the sounds. It was one of those increasingly rare nights, void of cultural noise - no traffic, no loud music or television, just birds, insects, and what sounded like a colony of foxes. I've mentioned this before, but my Stepfather and Aunt came her in covered-wagons before New Mexico became a State. Nights like these are similar to what they described, except there were none to very few birds or insects. There were six to eight fiercely controlled natural watering sites within a 5,000 square mile area when the early settlers arrived here but they learned to mine the Ogallala aquifer beneath us, and the water changed everything. Even within my lifetime the noise has invaded and permeated local life exponentially. I expect the universe to constantly change around and within me so I don't really spend time regretting the loss of the great quietness that once dominated and still can occur here, but I do treat those times like a feast when I find them. They are like windows and I've always sensed something infinite just beyond them.

As I read back over this to correct spelling I noticed that there might be lingering effects from applying the resin in a semi-enclosed space without the recommended air supply system. Oh well. All of my best lessons have been after the fact (or effect).