The Secret to Gardening …

Day 192

The secret to a productive evening in the garden is a non-productive day in the office. Better yet … a truly frustrating day sitting at the desk, preferably talking to morons, is the true key to successful gardening.

Trust me on this.

I know nothing about socialized health benefits … but from my day today I think I’d like more information, please! Something has got to be better than what is in place.

I pay nearly $1000 for my family EVERY MONTH for health insurance and what do I get? Increasing premiums, idiots to talk to, the run around, and spotty coverage. Something is terribly wrong with this system.

I spent 3 HOURS on the phone with 6 different insurance “people” in umpteen departments (most of them the wrong ones), in two states and at least one foreign country, and after an eternity on hold (that dreaded terminal hold) I was disconnected – which, yes, made my day even better!

It seems, unbeknownst to me, that when you move, your insurance does not move with you. Perhaps some does – mine did not. Nice to know … 3 months after moving.

In any case … it all ended up with me having to download a form and FAX it back ensuring a complete and guaranteed transfer of coverage. Emailing a signed copy of said form was not allowed. In this day and age I’m shocked that companies are still using a machine that I mastered back in 1979. Well, I no longer have a fax because all I got on my old one were notifications for GREAT DEALS on vacations to Mexico … you know, those ones advertising week-long, all-inclusive escapes for $299 … if you CALL NOW!

So, I will get to deal with insurance, again, tomorrow … and then I’ll have to find a FAX machine.

And I wonder where my days go.

To get the grit out of my brain from the day’s hours of frustration and not getting anything really done … I went outside and got busy with some garden therapy.

Like I said, frustration and non-productivity reaps rewards in the garden! There’s nothing like it. I dug 8 holes, weeded the whole front garden area, edged and dug up the dirt. And, man, THIS is dirt! I have never worked in soil such as this … Martha Stewart could even be jealous! It’s loose, it’s soft, it’s BLACK … it’s lovely! And I can put my shovel into the ground and it goes down 8 inches … without me needing a jack hammer! Colorado is NOT known for its good soil! It is known for its ROCKS. Enough said.

So, I am enjoying the digging and weeding and planning. The yard is shaping up … slowly … but it’s getting there. The purple plums will be against the back fence with the willows and hosta. More hosta are and will be planted around the curve of the new outline of the garden. The Pinky Winky hydrangea (that I saved from the garden center’s compost heap) will go in one corner and a deep purple butterfly bush will go in another. Apricot and pink climbing roses will flank the front and side fences.

I’ve got day lilies and hyssop and daisies and monarda to put in. There’s a dwarf lilac and a pussy willow and a sand cherry. I’ve got fragrant honeysuckles to put somewhere special and hollyhocks and fox gloves.

My Rose Cottage garden will be planted before the acorns all drop from the trees … if any are left to drop because with the recent storms my property is littered with ultra tiny, baby acorns. Not even big enough for the smallest of mousies!

In any case … insurance be damned. I can put up with that again tomorrow because I know later in the day and all evening I’ll be out tending the edges and amending my soil … getting ready to plant everything that is waiting … all the while venting my frustration in a most positive and successful way!

 

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