A springtime ritual

Today I filled, amended, cleaned, half-planted, hooped, and covered the first of the raised garden beds for 2012. Radishes, arugula, asian spinach, and kale. The other half is for staggered plantings of the same. I found two wire worms, which quickly turned into wire-worm mush between my fingers (please don't tell PETA). Laura put this bed together for me last year, and she half-filled it with extra native dirt that I had lying around (the dirt ran out, hence the half-filling). So I bought several bags of organic topsoil and compost, and finished the job, along with some bonemeal and mineral goodness. Turn the entire thing with a garden fork, and then get into it with hands and elbows to even the mix, tossing out the stones... rake the whole thing flat, and then out with the 2" planting jig. Seed, water, put in the hoops and then clamp the plastic. That's a satisfying day!

Laura is now asking me to visit her and help her build some garden beds, which I think I should do. She worked hard to put together these beds for me, and to fill them as much as she could with the soil that I had on hand. So a road trip is in order.

What the fuck is wrong with the USA?

I've thought now for a long time that what is good for women, is good for men. And what is bad for men, is also bad for women. In general, of course. The point being that this is not a zero-sum game, and we as genders are neither at war nor in competition for health, happiness, and success.

I understand the math behind this, of course. Just as I understand why young women are charged less for car insurance than young men. But health insurance is fundamentally different--a health problem can financially cripple someone, forever. And yes, womens' health issue are more complex than mens'. But how sad is it that we reduce this fundamental human issue to one of statistics, relegating it to the same status as a 16-year-old's insurance for an automobile's learner permit?

This is the issue that the Supreme Court is about to decide. And sadly, they will probably decide it against the ACA. Maybe not, but I don't hold out much hope.

I hope that I can live to see a day when men and women are truly treated equally under the law in the USA. We are clearly not anywhere near that point yet.

Note to self for the week of 3/25/2012

It's okay to fuck up!  Happens all the time.

Better late than never

Seedlings in the greenhouse

Everyone Loves Bacon

A picture of Jupiter and Venus, now just 3º apart, apparently, as viewed from France.  The first thing I thought was: what are their respective Bacon Numbers?

Choices

I learned today that my long-ago Ex lost her home to foreclosure.  For those that have been reading here for a long time, that would be Venus (to my Mars).  In one way, that made me sad.  She loved that little townhome.  That plus her truck were her entire identity.  In another, not so much, since I tried to hard to counsel her on how to keep it, but she had no clue or desire to know how to change that.

Ultimately, this just drives home to me how we can't change people at all. We are who we are, and honestly, it's insane to expect that to change.

For me, this is kind of a pivotal moment in my life.  I can't, and don't want to live this way forever.  Or do I?  I don't know.  There are choices to be made.

What I can't do is simply settle.  I've been alive enough to know that settling for people in my life leads to deep unhappiness.

Transitions

My uncle died today. Or yesterday, I'm not certain. It's a blur. He was a good man, and I will miss him.

When I was small, he took me to an amusement park. I was very afraid of it all, but he made it all better by making stupid noises for me. I know, that's silly, right? But he saw how afraid that I was, and he looked me in the eye, and said: "Hey James, AHAKHEKRHEAKJHID!"

And I laughed, and I responded in kind. We spent the next 15 minutes spouting nonsense to each other, and reveling in the act. He just wanted me to be happy, and he succeeded.

When he was older, he found his true love, and he left all in his life to pursue her. The family disapproved, but he was right in the end. He was happy with her, and she made him complete.

Heikki, you were always my favorite uncle, and I love you.

That's how I prefer to remember him, as a good person who wished well for me. Time is so short, and the people in our lives so transient.