Garden Chronicles Part I

Four years ago we started our garden at the lake house. We started with tentative steps, more of a conceptual idea, where we would get the best sun and drainage…so we tilled.

How did that work out?

Well…first we discovered we had tilled over an existing drainage tile!  We did not till up the pipe and had sufficient soil to keep going.

Outlining the freshly tilled soil with garden timbers we began adding garden grade (compost) to enrich the soil…a never ending process I have found (enrich and re-enrich with compost…some we make ourselves).

The first summers crop was bountiful…more than we could eat and share with the neighbors…but my  “master gardener” was not happy…not enough room to plant all the different possibilities…so we dug up more yard, more landscape timber and more “enriched soil”!

Texas summers are hot and often dry, so keeping this garden watered was always and issue, as was keeping the grass watered…so we added a sprinkler system fed off the lake…free water (well not exactly).

The garden is now approaching the size of a small truck farm (just kidding!) with an increasing diversity of vegetables and herbs. Add  to this pots and hanging baskets and you have a wonderful pallet of vegetables and flowers. Oh yes and fruit trees too, peach, lemon and fig.

The master gardener tired of bending a stooping and asked for raised beds…”how high” I asked. Three feet would be fine. Quickly calculating I saw a “LARGE” investment in treated lumber and fill…can’t just  use dirt…has to be a “formulated” garden mix…well of course…silly me! So I designed a slightly raised bed with my fancy CAD program from Google and submitted for her approval.

The new raised bed were filled and planted…now we wait.
There is an old Texas saying that you shouldn't plant a garden before Easter because of a late freeze and sure enought one is forcast for later this week...will we survive?

Stay tuned for more.

Early morning flight

Thunder, wind and rain passed across the lake in the early hours of the morning. Snuggled in our bed under the covers and the dogs nestled close by I slept with no concern that our “flying deck umbrella” would chose to take wing again.

What is he talking about?

For some reason our back decks umbrella is prone to take flight when the winds are just right.  Swirling around the house during a storms, it will spin the umbrella and like a helicopter, lift off and fly over the roof before landing in the front yard.

Not early this morning as I paid attention to the weather forecast last night for “chances” of rain overnight and stowed and lashed the umbrella down for the night.

Like an early video of Igor Sikorsky’s  attempts at helicopter flight, the umbrella will begin to lift up and down, spin slowly, trying to decide at which point it will take off…and like the early helicopter flights not really sure where it would go!

But not today.

Uncle Mike

With St. Patrick’s Day coming up I am reminded of my Uncle Mike…an Irishman of good standing.

Bernard Michael Shea was my mother’s brother.  “Uncle Mike” drifted in and out of your lives as I grew up. It was always an exciting time when he arrived as he brought with him smiles and laughter, a wealth of stories, friends and good humor. His stories were what I always waited for. They were always told with great flourish, I believe he may have shared a “nip” or two with my father that added embellishment to the story being told, but after all he was a true Irishman and had no doubt kissed the Blarney Stone.

Serving in WWII and a pilot in the Korean War he had a variety of flying jobs before hiring on with American Airlines. These were filled with experiences that made excellent material for some of his magical stories.

Here are two examples:

One, while flying in Korea, involved flying a very nervous General. On a flight from Korea to Japan, with an extended crew, the pilots, one by one, went back to use the head (bathroom). The General, taking count, soon deduced that no one was still in the cockpit. Stopping the last pilot (Uncle Mike) he, with panic in his voice, said “whose flying the airplane…seems the crews are all back here?” Without hesitation, and a twinkle in his eyes, Uncle Mike assured him the autopilot was flying, “and doing a dam fine job of it too”. There was actually one pilot still at the controls. Needless to say the General was not impressed and ordered the pilots back up front where they belonged. I’ve often wondered what story the General told about that flight?

Another I also recall told of flying a load of chickens out of a hot and dusty Mexican airport nestled deep in a valley. The surrounding mountains and the overweight load of chickens prevented the tired old DC-3’s engines from producing enough power to climb out of the valley.  Uncle Mike speculated that if the co-pilot would run up and down the aisle and get all the chickens flying it might lighten the load enough to fly over the mountains. Fact or fiction…many have debated this improbable scenario.

As a young boy I was mesmerized by these stories. I could almost hear the roar of the radial engines, smell the fuel and oil and maybe even the chickens. I believed many of them possible, everything is possible, “right?”, until I got into aviation (inspired to do so by Uncle Mike) and questioned a few. I may have even tried a few of them on unsuspecting young co-pilots.

Uncle Mike, pilot, sailor and raconteur went on to a great career with American, where I am sure he regaled many with his stories…though gone now will never be forgotten:

Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;

Pilot Officer Gillespie Magee

So on St. Patrick’s day I’ll be lifting a pint and be wishing an Irish blessing for Uncle Mike.

May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind always be at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
and rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of His hand.

 

“Adh mor ort” … Good luck to you!"

Sunrise over the cove

Occasionally you wake up to truly beautiful sunrise. Yesterday’s sunrise was one of those! As I walked out on the back deck, coffee in hand, I was treated to a red and purple horizon, the reflections mirrored off the cove waters and through the boat houses. The chilled morning air heightened the effect, along with my steaming cup of coffee it was truly a pleasure…no a blessing to behold.