Gratuitous Day Off Posting (TM)

Good morning! Light posting today.

I've finally managed to arrange a day off from work when I'm not scheduled to be doing things for my other masters: The Missus, the school board, the church, etc. So after I've had some coffee and scanned the paper (and just about the only story in the WaPo this morning is the Nats' home opener win last nigh - I'm starting to get excited), I intend to shuffle out into the yard and do some serious spring work. I've got two main tasks:

First, I've got to go 'round and feed the azaleas and whatnot. (Mmmm....Hollytone.....mmmmmm) I had to whack them back pretty severely last year, as they were getting too stringy and losing too many interior branches. Unfortunately, it looks like I probably won't get much bloom this spring. It's a pity, because the previous owner of this place really knew what he was doing when he put them in and their color in May is usually enough to tint the ceilings inside the house. Ah, well.

I also have to mow the back yard for the first time this season. This is going to drive my neighbor nuts. He doesn't garden at all but he's one of those extremely competitive lawn guys. In the summer, he cuts his grass twice a week. Often, he has his teenaged son mow the yard and then comes out himself a few hours later to mow it again. And virtually every time I mow my yard, he appears within fifteen minutes to start in on his as well. The idea that I beat him to the punch this weekend is going to give him conniptions. Ha ha ha. Ah, suburban warfare - it gets ugly sometimes.

This guy is known in our house, by the way, as "The Asparagus-stealing Neighbor" or "ASN" for short. He has a habit of coming over and helping himself to whatever crop is going (raspberries, blueberries, etc.) whenever he thinks we're away. I don't mind this, really, since there's usually plenty to spare. What I do mind is that he doesn't ask. The moniker ASN came about a couple of years ago when the Missus and I were out of town but my parents were staying here with the kids. We have a small asparagus bed in one corner of the garden and the crop was ripe for culling. The 'Rents had been drooling over the prospect of having some with din-dins all day. But when Dad went out to get it, he found he had been beaten to it. It was only then that he understood why the ASN had been loitering around the fence earlier in the afternoon.

Well, the ASN spoiled the 'Rents plans that day, but in a way it was worth it. For years and years when we were kids, Dad always emphasized the importance of initiative and hustle with the warning that if we kids didn't embrace these principles, the other guy would "eat your lunch". Being able to point out to Dad on this occassion that the other guy had "eaten your dinner" was well worth a couple of asparagus stalks. Heh.

Anyhoo - I'll be back later on. Yip! Yip!