Tuesday, June 24, 2008

WiFi in the Backyard

My brother, showing off with his iPhone, located two WiFi signals in my backyard--can't get them in the house, but that's fine. One is secured, so it probably belongs to the police department; the other is not, so all I have to do is plop down in one of the Adirondack Chairs, plug in my WiFi card, and the computer connects. This morning I answered all of my email and looked up birds on the Internet while I let the sprinkler water the vegetable garden. I took care of the email before 8am and did a bit of birdwatching and identifying.

I don't know where the signal is coming from, but to whoever--Thanks!
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The garden is doing well. I saw two nice-sized squash and a few baby ones; I have a bell pepper and an eggplant and a few tomato flowers. I think I have a cucumber--and the vines are blooming all over. The watermelon and the butternut squash have spread out over the garden border, so I need to make sure I don't mow them down.

The sunflowers haven't sprouted any blossoms, but they are tall. I expect they'll start busting out soon. I have a few corn plants, but I don't think those are going to produce. I could be wrong; we'll see. Overall, everything's doing well. I think the Miracle Gro has kicked in. I try to "feed" the gardens once a week. I hope the bees are working, but I haven't see too many lately. I think I'll get some Mason bees in the spring just to make sure I have bees when I need them.

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George Carlin died. He is/was one of my counterculture heroes. I first heard his "7 Words You Can't Say on Television" on his album "Class Clown," which is one of the funniest comedy recordings. My brother made me a copy of it (on audio tape--that gives you an idea of how long ago that was!), and, while shocking, that routine is one that has stayed with me for the last 40 years. I could even tell you what those words are, but I'd probably get arrested! So I won't detail them here. But he did some funny riffs on going to Catholic school (I did), and his routine about "stuff" is a classic (and so true). His "Hippie Dippy Weatherman" on The Smothers' Brothers Comedy Hour is a classic character. As long as I can listen to his comedy routines and reread his books, he won't leave me. I think he falls in the comedy ranks of Bob Hope, George Burns, Lenny Bruce, the Marx Brothers, and Steve Martin! He broke new ground for comedy and he wasn't afraid to take risks; he pointed out our foibles and idiocies and made us laugh at ourselves. I will miss his presence, but his comedy will endure.
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I learned yesterday that I need to keep my cell phone on when I'm driving. I left my wallet at my mom's house--it fell out of my purse--and she tried to call me to tell me it was there. She's mailing it back to me because it's "too far" to drive to my house to return it! I drive that 90 mile trip as often as necessary, but it's too far for my family! What's with that? I drove in Sunday and Monday--that's 180 miles or so in two days. I don't get it. I've started bribing them with homemade bread and a good meal to get them to visit.

Maybe the WiFi will get them out here more often. That could be a selling point, if I market it right!

1 comment:

Adam and Michelle Iberg said...

I miss you back!!

The move went freakishly smooth. It's gorgeous here and we've made a hurricane emergency box (containing mostly water and raisins) so I guess we're set!

I thought about planting some sunflowers but they were missing the little care tag when I saw them in the store and I was afraid I'd kill them. Any pointers? Will they live in a pot?

Great to hear from you!

Michelle