Where to begin. Here, I suppose, at the top and just watch it fill up until it hits bottom. Like life.
The weather has changed but you already know that. You know everything. Why am I even here. This morning I woke up and something felt off and I didn’t know if it was me or just the changing weather. I ate an apple to see if that would solve it. It did not. Neither did a popsicle. Same with popcorn. Definitely the weather.
There is an arrow pointing upward at the entrance to Carlton. I’ve been curious about it for a year and a half now. It stands next to a post that has nothing but a reflector on it. Apparently there’s something up high they want us to see. I assume it’s the sky but I sure don’t need a sign telling me the sky is up.
I already know that and lots of other things too because I went to college. I skipped sky class but I distinctly remember the day I was lying outside on the grass with some friends when we suddenly discovered the sky. We spent an hour trying to figure out what it was made of. Everyone should go to college.
Sign at the entrance to Carlton.
The point of that story is that it’s 7:23 a.m. and I’m sitting here waiting to go to the community garden I commune in, after spending a half hour piling layers of clothing onto my body because no one changed the start time to later despite the cold mornings. I mean it’s 39 degrees outside and I’m not in a good mood.
I love my fellow gardeners and all but there is something seriously wrong with them. And what will I get out of it? More carrots to join the already too many carrots taking up space in my fridge. Maybe we will try to dig potatoes out of the frozen ground. When I get home I plan to warm up with a long hot bath. I just hope someone has installed a bathtub in my house by then.
Meanwhile, I’ll sit here for six more minutes and wait for someone to call, text or email me that the start time is being changed to later so we don’t freeze to death. I’m not afraid of dying but I want to be warmer when it happens.
No one’s calling so here I go.
OK I’m back. I can report that it was cold and wet. I had the wrong gloves, the wrong shoes, the wrong clothes and the wrong tools. I plunged my hands into some plants and pretended to do things. It was miserable. After about 20 minutes I secretly snuck out with a loud goodbye. They all turned to stare at me but I just grabbed my sack of potatoes and walked away. I didn’t look back. I looked back and they were still there, all bent over and working as if everything was normal. I came home and did not take a bath.
With summer ending it’s a good time to start talking to anybody who will listen about how much I hate winter. I will continue this kind of talk for the next six months. No need to thank me.
