Month: October 2022

October 4, 2022 – Here Comes the Rain Again

It seems like I have settled into a bit of a format. That makes Tuesday and Wednesday kind of grab bags. It wasn’t that long ago that when someone said the phrase ‘Here Comes the Rain Again’ that people would think of this song. I knew that it was from the 1980’s but I guess I didn’t realize that it was from 1984. Wow, that seems like a long time ago now.

But, of course I don’t mean a now obscure 1980s reference. I am talking about the change of seasons. A couple of days ago we had several successive days of rainfall for the first time in months. I cant help that I enjoy it because I am a native Oregonian.

Before we lived in a home with a heat pump (aka Air Conditioning), the change of seasons meant a break from sweating for months. I know it is kind of weird, but I like the dusty smell when the furnace comes on for the first time in months. It brings back memories of time to nest up, heartier meals, etc.

There are so many reasons to appreciate rain. The first is hunting season has begun. Without some decent rainfall, timber companies keep their gates locked. I have never seen deer moving in nice weather either. Campfires have been banned all over the west for months. I am looking forward to some fall campfires in our back yard. The sprinkler can be turned off of the year.

With the positives, there are also some negatives. Rain signals the end of harvest. We are only about three weeks away from our annual first frost date. The blitz is on to get grapes, tomatoes, peppers and whatever is left off the vine. Many of these things can stand a little rain, but freezing is the end as well as fruit damage.

I took a picture of my paltry garden. I got a handful of tomatoes and a few cayenne peppers. It looks like there is a salad or two’s worth of tomatoes, three serranoes and a couple more cayennes. My primary interest is the tomato plant in the front that has three green tomatoes on it. This was my one surviving seed start that I wanted to harvest the seeds.

Let me remind you that out of a whole tray of plants, this was the one that survived. My hypothesis is that there is some hearty genetics here that I was going to see if I could propagate. I have no idea but I want to try.

The question of our long term prognosis in this house leads me to really question how much effort I want to put into really producing a proper garden. I have mentioned that we are within three years of an empty nest and this house is way too large for the two of us. I still am not really in favor of downsizing considering we have our office spaces, shop and guest house, but there are some things that I would be interesting in changing too. So, stay tuned.

End Your Programming Routine: Never stop learning and dreaming. While I have hinted at the disappointment of my yield, I can say that this year was better than last year. The fact that stuff survived and even produced at all points a lot of the fingers at me. I had hoped that watering when I watered the grass plus mulch would have been enough but I suspect my neglect was a large part of the spindliness.

October 3, 2022 – From Dependable to Dependant

This is a tough one. Once again I get personal on dealing with an aging parent that refuses to accept reality. This has cause a lot of hurt and anger and talking about this is one of my therapy techniques. I guess that I would say that podcasts are a better forum to get more personal, maybe this is not what you want? Well, it makes me feel better anyway. If you don’t like this line of content, then please suggest some other topics.

End Your Programming Routine: Maybe I should have studied philosophy instead of chemistry. I have come to appreciate the discipline of logic and reason when it comes to the these complicated and controversial topics. I don’t really appreciate being in the middle of it, but I hope that my insight today gives you comfort in your difficult situations. You are not alone.