I've lived long enough to know that when everything in your life is going just the way you want it to, some day soon that will all change. Knowing this, I was revelling in my life yesterday. Although I am missing my dear hubby who is in the field all week, I am enjoying everything that seems to be going right in our world.
That was, until this morning. I slept through my alarm so I ended up waking up when my friend Amber came to pick me up. I don't know if it was her or TAYLOR SWIFT on my radio that woke me up for sure, but waking up to Taylor Swift can ruin everything REAL fast. I mean, really iHeart radio? I say I want a "Like Jesus Does" (by Eric Church) radio station and I wake up hearing Taylor Swift? Not cool, man. Not cool.
Let's start with Tuesday. I went running at about 0715 with my friend Sarah. It was the first time we went for almost three weeks, so we were feeling pretty lackadaisical. We decided to start at the golf course and run to the gate and back. It turned out to be a 3.5 mile run and we kept a good pace. It's funny how you can run along Route 1 and almost be hit by everyone who passes by, but on base everyone moves over and gives you extra room even though there is a running lane. All of the bikers greet you with a good morning. People wave. It's really pleasant, not to mention that base is gorgeous and green and it smells clean.
That's one thing I absolutely don't miss about Omaha. The majority of the city smelled.
Sarah and I are great running partners because we make each other laugh and manage to talk through the majority of the run. We had to discuss the "meeting of the husbands" from the weekend because we had essentially shoved our husbands together, told them they would be together in Florida, and stood back and watched as they talked. We totally put the guys on the spot when we do this. We spent a lot of our run discussing an insanely large rodent we had seen when we parked. Turns out the prairie dogs in Quantico could be mistaken for something much larger. We thought it was a beaver! My friend Amber would confirm later that it was actually a prairie dog.
Apparently Tuesday morning, like every other morning, is a great time to go golfing when you are retired from the military. The course was busy, and the way the old men stared at us when we got back to the car...
I guess women don't golf much here.
After our run, Sarah dropped me off at my place. She works with a child in my neighborhood who has autism. The fact that she volunteers her time to work with someone with autism makes her A-OK in my book. I went to the nursery down the street. It's called Sunnyside Nursery and I have no idea if they have a website, but the owner is this absurd old man from Georgia. I can't understand a damn word he says but he always laughs at whatever I say so I always return the favor.
Chris went with me the first time I visited to start my garden. We laughed because the guy seemed to like having someone to talk to so much that he kind of just discounted everything we bought. It's kind of a neat set up, because it's two old houses attached to each other. One house is antiques on the top floor and gardening supplies on the bottom. The other has more stuff in it, I assume, and he lives there. So you never know where he is, or if he is watching, or if he is just taking a nap. When Chris and I went, we stopped upstairs to check out the antiques. When we came back down, he had fallen asleep in his chair at the cash register, and I had to drop something to wake him up. It is ALWAYS an experience when we go there, and I think that's half the reason I go.
Some of my seedlings didn't pop up-cucumbers and lettuce don't seem to like my garden so I bought strawberries and zucchinis to replace them. I also bought some plants for the front yard. The marigolds look like crap and my landlord gave me permission to dig up the tulips.
I hate tulips. I think I have accidentally, purposely, neglected them so they would die quicker. It worked. And they have been overridden with weeds.
So now I have spikes and some other tall things to plant instead. I also just figured out that there is a hose hookup in the backyard, so now I don't have to take trips up and down the deck stairs to fill up my watering can. I bought a hose and hose attachment at Sunnyside Nursery from my favorite old crazy Georgian, but LEFT the attachment there on accident. I am pretty sure that at any other place I might have trouble getting it without the receipt, but here he was just like, "People leave those things here all the time!" And then he smiled at me like he let it happen on purpose.
I think he is a lot smarter/sneakier than he lets on, but the old man is so sweet. He has pet chickens that he will call to and they come running, and he told me the other day that if I wanted to go get cash and come back later to pay that I could take my plants now. He wanted me to do that because he charges less when you pay in cash, and he wanted to do that for me. He had honestly already discounted my stuff like 50% so I told him no big deal. He's great. I wish all nurseries were that way.
I wish I had a picture of him to show you, but he wears old man pants, a plaid shirt, a cap, sunglasses, and a white mustache. He is kind of hunched over and has a thick Southern accent. He walks around all of his plants and if he sees something that is ready to be eaten, i.e. a strawberry or something, he just eats it right off the plant.
He makes me laugh. He tried to sing me a song today about a girl in blue jeans, and when I asked if he remembered me he said, "How could I forget?" I think he was just showing off for the other old guys that work there. (Most of them speak with a heavy Russian accent.)
It has been SO hot here lately. I brought my plants home yesterday and within mere hours in this ridiculous Virginia heat they were dried out and looking dead. Thank goodness with some water and TLC they came back, but I need to get in the ground now. I am planting them tomorrow morning after I go for a run with Sarah.
I want to write more but I am exhausted.
Tomorrow will be a fabulous writing day I think.
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