Walnuts On My Windshield

#15, October 8, 2004

My, how quickly Fridays roll around! Just a few minutes ago, I finished writing (and printing, folding, stuffing, licking, addressing, and stamping) a Roberts Family Newsletter, so I'm not feeling too creative right now.

I will say that it will be good to have Scott and Jessica home next week. They have both had wonderful experiences in China, but unfortunately they, as well as Scott's mom, have been pretty sick with some cold thing that Scott suspects in his case has morphed into pneumonia. We are praying for them and eagerly awaiting their return.

I was trying to think of something funny or at least unusual to write about today.

A few days ago, I went out for my morning walk, only to be greeted by a dead deer lying across the foot of our driveway. It was a doe, probably a yearling. Ah, the joys of country living! Not sure exactly what to do, and not wanting to try to put into practice all the information I have read about dressing a deer in The Missouri Conservationist, I called the sheriff's non-emergency number. I explained the situation and the gentleman asked where I live. Out here, directions are not given in terms of street address, but rather, "well, I live just west of the convenience store on 160 at Bull Creek." "Oh, you're in the old Blansit house next to the Spendthrift? Got it." He didn't actually say the deer would be removed, but I was hopeful.

The kids and I negotiated the van around the expired deer (actually, I drove the van; the kids were just passengers) and went to do our errands in town. When we arrived home, there was on our driveway, thankfully, no deer. However, as we were unloading our groceries, I watched a tiny bulldozer-looking vehicle, sporting the Taney County logo, stop at the foot of our driveway. The driver of said bulldozer looked around, made a call on his cell phone, and then drove off. My only guess is that someone else saw dinner in my driveway and removed it before the county arrived. There are lots of good old boys in Walnut Shade.

Along those lines, there was a piece on the national news last night about a new constituent group: the shoppers at Cabela's. Now, I have heard of Cabela's (not sure of the spelling, though), but I have never been there. I have been to Bass Pro, which is the southern Missouri shrine of conservative, gun-toting outdoorsmen and wannabes. From the video clips, I am guessing that Cabela's is a lot like Bass Pro, and I am also guessing that whoever lifted our deer has shopped at one or both. When the kids and I were discussing the demise of the deer, Josiah said it served the deer right, as it was probably the same one that decimated my garden.

I think gardening is a lot like hunting: you spend a lot for an opportunity or a feeling, but may not end up with many edibles to show for your investment. I spent about $100 on my garden this year. I bought peat moss and pelletized lime; the latter to counteract a tendency toward Blossom End Rot. I paid a young friend to thrash the soil to death with his roto-tiller. I bought tomato and pepper plants. I bought Wal-Mart's cheap version of Miracle-Gro (which truly works great) and some stinky liquid stuff to fend off the tomato worms. I had my cages from last year, and they were still usable, despite being rusty. Last year, my tomatoes thrived and quickly out-grew their cages. This year, I decided to stay ahead of the game. I bought some nifty garden poles from Lowe's. I didn't tell Scott the exact cost of the poles, knowing that once he was eating delicious home-grown tomatoes every night, he wouldn't be too concerned about the VISA bill.

I watered my garden religiously three times a week. It took over thirty minutes each time. I patiently stood there and moved the hose every two minutes from plant to plant. The weeds came up well - they like that imitation Miracle-Gro - so I bought two bales of straw to spread as mulch.

My tomatoes developed Fusilarium Wilt, a disease found in the soil and, sadly, untreatable. I had tomatoes for two weeks in mid-June, and that was it. I continued to nurse them along into early October, hoping they would re-bound. They did not. The few green tomatoes were eaten by the deer. I was discouraged, but thankful that at least we would have a bumper crop of peppers. Now, peppers are not nearly as exciting as tomatoes, but I had one bush that had 17 peppers on it; no slouch job. They were orange peppers, too, which Scott loves. They were actually still green, and I was nurturing them along, just waiting for them to ripen to a delicious sweet orange.

I watered on a Friday morning. I pruned, I weeded, I checked. I went back to the garden on Monday morning to repeat that performance. My pepper plant had been raped. There were six surviving peppers, but every single leaf on a huge bush that had been hip-high on me was gone. The plant was naked, and many peppers were on the ground with deer-sized teeth marks in them. I almost cried. All that time and all that money and virtually no yield! For what I spent, I could have bought enough tomatoes to feed our family for a decade.

Hunting is similar. You take a Hunter Education Course. You buy a permit. You buy some cammos. Maybe more than one set. You buy a gun and ammunition. Probably more than one kind. You buy a deer stand. You buy new sights or have your old ones adjusted. You spend hours beforehand scouting for deer. You take off work to go hunting. You get up early. You freeze your buns off. You get stiff. You see no deer. You repeat this process several times. Was it worth it? Well, you could have bought enough meat to feed your family for what you spent to hunt, but then again, sometimes God is merciful. Sometimes you just drive down the road and see the deer already dead in someone's driveway!

Until next time,
Patty

From My Bookshelf:

The Homeschool Journey by Susan Card, rank: 7. This thoughtful book about homeschooling is written by someone who thinks a lot like I do. See, there IS someone else like me in the world! She addresses some of the deeper issues of how children develop, the importance of character training, a good perspective on academics (including the whys and hows), and the importance of relationship and listening for us parents. I enjoyed this book and it gave me some new concepts to think about.

Quote of the Week:

"The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires." ~ William A. Ward

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