Mother nature strikes

That was quite the little rain event. We had five inches or so of rain the last day here in our little corner of Suburbingham. The little creek/drainage ditch that runs through our back yard has turned into quite a little river.

Yesterday some of the roads in and around our little city of Helena were closed because of flooding. That's about as dramatic as the news ever gets here in Bayberry RFD.

The biggest downer for me from all the rain is that I'm out something like $30, an hour or so of labor and I probably did some kind of irreparable damage to the environment.

On Monday I carefully laid down a bag and a half of some sort of toxic powder that is supposed to magically keep weeds from breaking out. I'm not sure how the stuff works--I suppose the powder somehow frightens the weeds so they remain in hiding in the soil. The idea is that after you spread the poison a gentle rain will dissolve the powder, it will soak into the soil and the weed-preventing magic will happen.

Yesterday's deluge washed away my lawn treatment and and instead of preventing weeds, those expensive and nasty chemicals are now flowing through the streams and rivers of central Alabama. I'm sorry.

Today the sun is shining, the temperature will be in the 70s and I spent a chunk of the morning getting the lawn mower ready for the growing season just ahead. I changed the oil, air filter, blade and spark plug, so I'm good to go for another year. In the last week some of my neighbors have been out prematurely mowing their lawns. I'm not sure why they're doing this since the grass in their yards is still brown and hasn't woken up yet. I think they're just antsy.

I'm going to wait until the grass is actually growing before I begin mowing. I'm the only homeowner in all of Suburbingham who owns a mower that doesn't move on its own. Most everyone around here has a riding mower or at the very least a self-propelled mower. We have a lot of grass to mow and my mower makes me do all of the work myself, so I'm in no rush to crank it up until I see the need to do so.

In the meantime there's plenty to do. I have a couple dozen more bales of pine straw to spread and dozens of bags of cypress mulch to lay down in the back yard. I also have my garden bed to get ready for the coming season.

A couple of weeks ago I planted squash, cucumber and tomato seeds in plastic trays. They've germinated and my plants are growing fast. In the next week or two we'll make a road trip to our favorite nursery to buy several varieties of heirloom tomatoes, eggplants and peppers along with Teri's choice of herbs for the garden.

Then I'll harvest the last of my winter crop of cabbage and collards, "plow" my garden bed and get it ready for this growing season. Early in April, when all danger of frost is past, I'll plant the herbs and veggies. About the same time I'll fertilize my fruit trees and bushes, a pointless exercise since the squirrels steal all of my peaches and blueberries and my plum and pecan trees aren't big enough to bear fruit yet. The stinking squirrels don't like figs for some reason, so at least I'll have those to look forward to. Maybe I'll plant an apple or pear tree this year to add some variety to the diet of our local rodent population.

Our December cruise out of New Orleans is now a Best Year Ever event since six of us have signed up for it and another couple is considering it.

The weather can be spotty in the Caribbean in December, and it's likely to be chilly when we sail out of New Orleans. But by the time we get to Mexico, the sun should be shining. Teri and I have been to the Yucatan a number of times in the second week of December and the weather has always been nice enough to sunbathe.

The price is right for this trip. At just $279 per person for five nights aboard a beautiful ship, I don't care if the seas are rough or it rains the whole time. You're welcome to join us if you want--just ask me for the details. The price has actually dropped $10 per person in the last week, and those of us already signed up got $10 refunds, enough to buy a fruity umbrella drink on board.