Domestic doings

Summer in south Texas is comparable to the third circle of Hades, a delight if you are in air conditioner sales, but sucks if you are outside otherwise in the middle of the day. Coming from the temperate Bay Area, this coming summer will be a major adjustment for me. One thing in my favor is having lived through several summers in Washington, DC, another place where you wonder if from June through September there is a living creature outdoors. DC doesn't get quite as hot as the Houston area, but the humidity is as miserable.

Fortunately, Fall, winter and Spring are generally pleasant down here, and you take advantage of the nice weather whenever possible. So Sunday morning my wife and I decided to do some gardening. Our back yard has a sound wall with sod planted up to the wall itself. My wife, who has a green thumb, (mine is only green if I'm getting sloppy with a project involving green paint), laid down several rolls of a special paper that will smother a strip of grass before the wall, then we dumped pine bark mulch on top. She had already planted several bushes, one grape vine, (my idea, CalTex Vineyards has to start somewhere), and a Crepe Myrtle.

For a border, we decided to used the leftover stones used for part of the facing on the house. The builders left these stacked in the garage where they were just taking up space. Jayne unfortunately tweaked her back pretty badly, so it was my job to handle the stones. Fortunately we have a rolling cart the stones could be piled in. Unfortunately, they weigh a ton... each. But I finally got them out, and arranged, trying not to have a tantrum when Jayne wanted a few moved to make the arrangement more symmetrical.

The result is terrific though. But I was having a flashback, wondering if in a previous life I was a laborer building one of the great Pyramids. I had a brief vision of Charlton Heston saying, "I may only be a slave now, but my God will rescue his people and smite thee, then He will part the Red Sea and let us escape, then make the sea drown Pharaoh's warriors. And it will be written I will win an Academy Award, then become head of the NRA and pray at the altar of Smith and Wesson."

Anyway, I certainly got my workout, and the amount and weight of the stones I moved will of course be growing the more I talk about it. But next weekend, no moving of anything, except for ourselves to the airport. We're going to Florida for a couple of days, so I can meet more members of Jayne's family. She has an aunt and uncle there she is close to, plus her parents will be there. I am glad this is not hurricane season, as Georges chased me out of Florida in 1998. But I am checking the forecasts from the National Hurricane Center just to be safe.