Tuesday, June 28, 2011

somethings -

I can’t say for certain that a few drops of rose geranium oil applied regularly to the dog’s collars keeps ticks away. But I can say it’s been a good week or so since I’ve had to perform a tweezer extraction and/or sighted one of the fatfuggers waddling around, drunk on blood. That’s all I’ll tentatively declare.

It seems that we’re one of the only few families in the neighborhood who subscribes to trash service? Which I find so odd. Where are all the other cans on Trash Day? Are we elitist for having pickup?

I wrote a letter today. And judging by the fatigue in my forearm, I really ought to hand-write more often.

I also did some work-I-love by setting up a flickr photostream. As an amateur. Who has no sights set on anything other than offering a view of the world captured through a cheap camera lens.

Mammoth sunflowers – they have buds. The tallest is *only* just taller than me, rather than the promised 7 to 12 feet. But I’ll take it. Next year, I want a whole field of them. A giant rectangle of former lawn-turned-sunflower-patch. Is this unreasonable?

And lastly: geese. I don’t know, m. How could one reasonably suggest to keep them as pets. They’re not all mean, I understand. They don’t all hiss and carry on. They do allegedly feast on ticks. But they are just so…grabby? Entitled? Insatiable? Honky? Yeesh. Their collective soul is like that of a teenage boy in your kitchen after sports practice. Except all you’ve got on hand is half a bag of bread crusts and no more. Which means you’re practically unarmed against the force of them.

Well anyway. Behold. The geese down by the river.

100_0905

100_0906

100_0907

100_0911

100_0908

6 comments:

schu said...

omg the last geese photo is awesome as is the analogy of teenage boyness... eeek! geese! love _ EET!

somebody's mom said...

Sunflowers! Yes!

Next year... leave a large circle unplanted and on successive weeks plant another ring until, well big enough. Then you will have successive rows of happy flowers and a secret hideout in the center which should delight the young ones. Oh, and totally you should plant a few pumpkin seeds to spread out from the center or surround the sun garden oh, and how about a few string beans at the base of each sunflower? how could the geese not be thrilled with the ripening crops! But what is with the trash? One of my co-workers used to bring their trash, every day and put it in the big dumpster because they didn't want to pay for trash pickup. Who wants to drive anywhere with their trash in the car? I don't get it.

pen said...

LOVE the planting ideas.

those last geese were like, that close.

erin j said...

the sunflowers!!! I want a whole yard of all different sizes. alas. rach was going to make a natural playhouse out of sunflowers. i have seen others that also use green beans (growing up the sunflowers) and other viney flowers. i don't really want to make one for the kids, so much as i want to make one for myself. sigh.

pen said...

it would secretly be for me, too. :)

and i always think of mlk pkwy, too, with the giant patch of them last june. i wanted to stop the car and frolic for awhile.

almost anonymous said...

A tentative cheer for the absence of icky ticks. Whoop!

Ducks maybe, but geese...not so much. I don't think I've been hissed at and chased by ducks.