A Day of Rest

When life gets so busy I can't return my calls or emails, I know it is time to step back and take a day for myself to relax, read, work in my garden on my deck and sit in the rocking chair awhile. I am thinking of doing away with all flower beds in my yard except for my roses and my hostas. On a drive around my county last weekend, I yearned for some of the houses I saw that only had mulch around the  house with two or three shrubs in front. I think they are summer houses or vacation houses, but that is what I want. 

Keeping up a yard on the side of a mountain where there are no flat levels is beyond my abilities now. 
I remember when my  husband Barry said to me, "Don't plant things you have to water and take care of." 
When we moved here this was a vacation house and nothing was planted outside but a rosemary bush and Ivy under the outside steps. 

Now I have azaleas across the front, two forsythias on the side yard, a rose bed on the other side yard, roses and day lilies and irises, an elephant ear and one trillium plant in back beside the fenced yard. With temperatures in the  nineties day after day, I stay inside. 

Azaleas in front yard with forsythia bush beside steps. 

I love hostas. They require little extra care.

Container garden last spring. I have more this year.

On my deck I have a container garden with three geraniums, some pots with trailing ground cover plants, a tiny rose, a beautiful vinca plant and some other green plants. I can sit in my living room and enjoy all of the plants on my deck and it takes a short while to water them. I fill a watering can, step outside and give them each a drink. 

Finding anyone to come and help me in my yard is next to impossible. I have people who tell me they will come and then don't show up or when I call they won't call me back. I hear this story from people who need workers in this area. They say people don't want  to work if it is physical or outdoors. 

Harrah's put in a casino in an adjoining county and most of the people who wanted a better job or who needed a better wage, went there to  work. I'm sure those jobs are better than fast food or restaurant jobs many of them held. Almost all businesses here have help wanted signs in front windows. 

I am curious to know if they work harder for the better wages and benefits than they did in their former jobs. Of course, with more jobs available, no one is sitting home waiting for someone to call them for a day's work. They found full time jobs. 

Perhaps like the farmers, these small businesses should look for some illegal immigrants who are usually eager to take any job available. They appreciate the work and do a good job.  

Today is a rest day for me. This past week I had something to do every single day and when I was home, I was at my computer working on the Publishing Class I taught Saturday at Tri-County Community College. We had ten eager students and their experience was very diverse. One man has written a non fiction book. A woman has completed a novel based on a true story. A poet had recently published a chapbook on Create Space. All were interested in how to publish their writing and I gave them three hours of information. Still, with all the discussion, I had to  leave out some of what I  had planned to talk about.

A writer friend, Darnell Arnoult, who teaches in a college in Tennessee, said she had hoped to be a writer who was also a teacher but it seems she is a teacher who writes. I feel the same way. I enjoy teaching so much I continue to schedule classes. I  hope I  can get back to writing soon. I have projects half finished including a  poetry book and a book on pets.

My readers and friends, I hope your weekend is good and life is good to you.

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