March 20, 2010

• Stupid Village People

  When I moved, I found my little home beind that of a dear friend.  She is in her 80s, funny and irreverent and one of the strongest women I know.  I built my little garden against the back of her garage and she was happy that it was more than a pile of dirt.  The handfuls of tomatoes I took to her throughout last summer were blessings in her dimming eyes.  We had tea and toast and laughed and laughed.  There were days that I put my head in her lap and sobbed and she is wise enough to be silent and let me cry.  But that is by way of introduction.  On Christmas Eve she got a notice from the Village Zoning Officials that the garage needed to be painted and that windows and shutters needed care as well.  It was cause for alarm and much laughter.  “Have those fools looked outside?  I might be old but I’m not senile.  Who the hell paints in this weather and on Christmas Eve?  I am calling them up and giving them a piece of my mind!”  And she did.  I was not there for that conversation but I am quite certain the Village Phone was too hot to touch by the time she firmly put the Village people in their place.  But now spring has come and the snows have melted and the notice returns.  “Take care of this by the end of April.”  So of course we will help – the kids and I but the puzzlement in it all is the note that there is “rank vegetation” around the garage.  What the hell are they talking about?  It couldn’t possibly be the tomato plants and sunflowers.  Even the Village People should know what those are.  Oh my God!  It’s the compost pile!  Of course those fools don’t know what compost is!  “Rank vegetation.”  Cripes!  So I am off today to get the makings for a homemade compost container.  It was all going to be under another load of top soil in a month but the container will have to be there for another batch of “rank vegetation” this winter.  Good grief!  Stupid Village People.
  And so it goes.

  • 7:42 am
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