Spring has sprung with enthusiasm. Weeds have been growing for awhile but today is the first day that it’s actually been possible to get out and dig around a little, I’m surprised at how it’s more difficult for me to get up and down than I remember from last year. Really surprised! I know women who are in their 80’s still puttering around in their gardens. Fairly big gardens too. I’m a wuss.
I’m again having fun with my prisoners. The club is building up in numbers again thanks to some recruiting work done by the few who were still left. I often lose men unexpectedly to transfers, or they get released. Both situations are annoying. However, the men like being released, so in that case, the only one complaining is me.
I’m involved with the community “adopt-a-landscape” project in the neighborhood. It’s a massive effort getting through the government red tape, getting permission to do this or that; gather up volunteers, find donations, draw up designs, get irrigation installed, find plants, etc. Somebody else has the vision and doing most of that work – not me. I’m driving the truck!
Next Friday, I’m taking a 17’ U-haul for a drive to fetch all the plants from some nursery near Salem. It should take me an hour or so of driving. I recruited a friend to go with me. She’s in her 70’s, pretty feisty, loves nurseries and always up for an adventure. We’ll be like Lucy Ricardo and Ethel Mertz heading down the highway. Whoohoo!
I haven’t tackled a big truck like that since I moved to this house 16 years ago. Can’t believe it’s been that long. Thinking back, it’s been 23 years since my brother Mike died. It was then that my life changed - overnight, I became a “Pizza Baroness”. The last 8 years have gone faster than the rest. The Y2K scare not a year or two ago, but 8!
Then, there are my boys in blue – the ones serving time. Days, months and years removed from the pace of the world. When we first started the Toastmasters Club, we discussed when we should begin our meetings. Their “call-out” was for 6:30 but sometimes, because of traffic, I couldn’t always get there by then. I said that I hated for them to be sitting around waiting for me if I was going to be ½ hour late.
One of them said, “Oh you forget. We got nuttin’ but time for sittin’ around waitin’.” True, the guys are busy with work and classes but there’s a lot of sittin’ around waitin’ time too. So what to do while you’re waiting? As another man stated in one of his speeches, “You can serve time, or you can have time serve you.” He’s taking advantage of every class offered and works at waking up in the morning thinking that he will be successful and the day will be successful. Some of these men are truly inspirational.
Today is the day that we prepare for tomorrow. One minute at a time
