Enjoying the Garden, Being Thankful for Neighbors
Submitted by My Garden Spot Blog
‘Pup and I were lucky earlier this year, in the spring, that the weather was good enough for us to enjoy being outdoors and grilling. We even spent time late, after dark, with some lanterns and a candle or three for romantic lighting. Right now, we can’t do that. It’s too hot.
How hot is it? It’s so hot that some of the plants that have usually enjoyed full sun, are suffering. I’ve moved some of them into partial shade.. or where there is some shade for part of the day. Even my herb bed is doing as well as it is because it has shade in the late afternoon, when the day is at it’s hottest.
The heat has also meant that we’ve been watering almost every day. With both of us working longer than normal hours.. or in ‘Pup’s case, working full time and then attending physical therapy (long story), we’ve been doing a lot of that watering after dark. Sometimes, we start at dusk, putting on a soaker hose, or a low sprinkler, and then coming back out later, after dark to turn it off.
That presents a problem. We need some more outdoor lights. It’s dark out there, folks. It’s darker than it should be, because our house is right across from a streetlight… that doesn’t work. We’ve been making do, but the other night, something happened that really showed how much we need better lighting.
We’d just gotten home from the store and I had to water some of the potted plants. While ‘Pup was taking the groceries in, I pulled out the hose. ‘Pup was carrying a light, but it wasn’t enough. He found the hose and down he went. He couldn’t get up. I couldn’t get him up. This was not looking good.
I went next door, to the Wests, but no one was answering. No one home, it seemed. Fortunately, the neighbors just to the West of the West were coming out of their house, seeing off some visitors. I flagged down the lady of the house and she brought reinforcements. In no time, the men had taken ‘Pup under the arms and hoisted him to a waiting chair. From there, ‘Pup waited for a while and was able to get into the house by himself. No lasting damage…but it was a scare.
Thank God for good neighbors.. and y’all… get some lights.
