Back to School

Posted on September 5, 2012 by Julie-Ann Baumer

It’s September; the big yellow buses are everywhere.

I think about education.  I think about my own formal education and through conversations with co-workers and friends who have children, I think about what is considered “education” today.  I have friends who “home school” their children and others who “un-school.”  I do not want to go back to school to obtain another piece of paper in advanced education, but I do read and study and consider myself a lifelong student.

The internet is a great tool for lifelong students.

Of all the topics I’ve researched on the internet, my favorites have been economics and finance.  I signed up for “Macro-Economics” when I was a student at the University of Maine at Orono, but dropped it for some unknown reason and then didn’t think about it again until 2008 when “the bottom fell out of the real estate market.”  I could not understand how a bank could make money loaning money which would never be repaid.

Answering that question would be a very long blog post; this is the first day back to school for some people.

For today, let’s start with the basic mathematical principle of zero.  Zero times anything equals zero.  I did a little research on the subject before I typed those words; we live in interesting times and it’s possible that the principle of zero has been reversed, overruled, or rewritten.  I decided to ask the smartest person I know if this principle was still valid.  Here’s what this person told me:

“Zero times anything is zero; zero times infinity and zero times love is undefined.”

Think about this principle today; maybe chew on it a bit.  If you like, you can also chew on this:

If you place a quarter in this machine, you will get 4 bits of this brand of candy.  Based on the mathematical principle of zero, these candies still have some value, albeit a decreasing one since I can remember a time when a bag of at least 30 of these could be purchased for a quarter.  This is math class, though, and not economics; we’ll save discussions about “value,” “production,” and “consumption” for that class when we get there.

There’s the bell…see you in study hall.

Posted in Back to School | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Back to School

Little Notes and Memos

Posted on September 4, 2012 by Julie-Ann Baumer

I got the memo this weekend, the one I’ve been dreading since my birthday last month.

“The motel will be closed for a few weekends.”

When I get this memo, it’s a sad reminder that I’m currently living at The Coop (the chicken coop-sized condo in Hampton, New Hampshire) and not in my home of Lisbon Falls, Maine.  Combine this reminder with the end of my tomatoes, my drooping sunflowers, and Uncle Bob mowing the lawn like it’s the last time ever and it makes for a long drive south.  In spite of leaving earlier than normal, Labor Day traffic exiting Maine slowed to a bumper-to-bumper 10 mile per hour crawl at mile 14 in Ogunquit.  It was a long, slow ride.

I made it to The Coop and the usual suspects were at the See Mint pond, soaking up the late day sun and laughing.  I thought I was going to cry; it was more than I could handle.

Then something lovely happened.

I went to the mail box and I had a letter.  It was from one of my friends from church; she reads my blog and every once in a while she will send me a note to tell me about her garden or some remembrance related to a post I have written.  It means a lot to me to get such “fan mail,” especially when it comes from the heart of a friend.

Janet wrote to tell me she liked my post about The Redemption Garden and then she wrote “I saw this refrigerator magnet at a second-hand shop and thought of you.”  Included in the envelope was a magnet that said “Moxie Makes Mainers Mighty.”

I did cry more than a little bit when I held that magnet in my hand.  Then, I pulled myself together and got about my business of unloading the car and putting things away.  I finished the mailing for my 30th Class Reunion and did lots of other things.

I finished work on The Redemption Garden on Sunday.  Chrysanthemums are an easy “Phase One” for fall.

Once those flowers start to open up, it’s going to be beautiful.  It’s right next to The Moxie Store on Main Street in Lisbon Falls, behind the park bench.

I know I can’t save the world; I can only redeem whatever pieces I’ve been given.  Thank you, Janet, for sending me a little note which encouraged me to keep going.

It was just in time.

Posted in Home | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Little Notes and Memos

Labor Day Watermelons

Posted on September 3, 2012 by Julie-Ann Baumer

Although I have belonged to many clubs and organizations, I have never belonged to a labor union.  Being an “employee at will” versus being represented by “collective bargaining” has probably defined my thoughts about work.  My father belonged to the International Brotherhood of Firemen and Oilers when he worked in the paper mills, but his membership did not define him.

He always worked on Labor Day and I am my father’s daughter

Today, I’ll be picking tomatoes, kale, and peppers.  The tomato plants are giving up the ghost and it’s time to pull them out.  Some of my sunflower stalks need to be pulled out because they’ve gone by too.

I finished the “melon harvest” yesterday.

This was one of two watermelons I harvested.  It was a small harvest, but refreshing and delicious.  It was worth the effort and I learned something new.

My father carried the water for these plants all summer long.  I didn’t check his collective bargaining agreement, but I think we’re cool.

I don’t define myself by man-made holidays and seasons; I’m grateful to have a job, a garden, and more volunteer projects than I can handle.  All the dreams I dream for the future involve work.  The only lawn chair I dream about is the one in my back yard at home.  Work is good for the body, mind, and spirit; I’m going to do it while I can.

Let’s Go…and work.

Posted in Home | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on Labor Day Watermelons

Forever 12 – The Big Time Rush

Posted on September 2, 2012 by Julie-Ann Baumer

Cherie Ripperton texted me from the Big Time Rush concert in Manchester, New Hampshire last night. She herself is not a fan, but her 12-year-old daughter is; when you’re a concerned parent, you go to boy band concerts. She seemed to be having a good time, although she forgot her ear plugs.

Ah, to be 12 year’s old again.

(Photo of a photo, courtesy of Faye Brown, at The Barber Shop. Left to right, Betty Cunningham, Little Joolie Baumer, unknown, Lynne Brown, Lynn Van Cour.)

That’s me, brushing a strand of hair off my forehead and riding the Faye’s Clippers float in a parade. Riding on a float is like being at a concert; the float is the stage, especially when you’re 12. There was lots of excitement and adoring fans. I hope I waved to people, even though I didn’t know the pageant wave. In the corner of Faye’s Barber Shop, over the left hand side of the door, I will be forever 12.

If I was 12, then in must have been 1976. Lots of good things happened in 1976.

Since I’m not 12 anymore, going to Webber’s Ice Cream was the Big Time Rush of my Saturday night. I even met Mrs. Webber and told her I had written about her business more than once. She was friendly and condescended to answer a few of my questions. The best thing I learned was that Webber’s Ice Cream isn’t closing yet. They’ll stay open until October, which means I can swing by on my way home from the Common Ground Country Fair at the end of September!

Just thinking about it makes me feel like a 12-year-old on a parade float. Or an ice cream float!

As Jay might say, “Bring it!”

Posted in Today We Rest | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Forever 12 – The Big Time Rush

Friday Pillow Talk – Class Reunion Dirt Dreams

Posted on August 31, 2012 by Julie-Ann Baumer

I stayed up too late last night, working on an Excel spreadsheet of high school classmate data.  Next week, the invitations for my 30th high school reunion will go out; the event is scheduled for October 27, 2012.

I’m not having any nightmares about the reunion.  We’ve got a good volunteer committee and we’re going to keep things simple in terms of location, food, and music.  In fact, our 30th Reunion format will be similar to our 25th and 20th reunions.

There are only so many ways to plan events like weddings, reunions, and fundraisers.  Putting the words “how to plan a class reunion” into a search engine produces results similar to searching the words “how to lose weight.”  There are a lot of generic sites which sell “reunion planning workbooks” and products.  There are also small businesses with names like “Reunions 4 You.”  They promise to do the work so classmates can have fun.  A few of these “planners” also double as private investigators.  Many “reunion planners” are loosely linked to a non-profit group called “The National Association of Reunion Managers (N.A.R.M).”

I’ve been to N.A.R.M’s website, their blog, and their Facebook fan page.  I’m not going to link to these sites because they’re poorly written and generic.  N.A.R.M doesn’t update their blog or Facebook fan page very often; I don’t know if they ever gave away the iPad 2 they were offering to people who “liked” them on Facebook.

Like many businesses trading in human emotions and dreams, the dim shadow of “the snake oil salesman” hovered in the corners of each reunion planning web page and hyperlink I visited.  They weren’t quite real and it was difficult to find the name of a flesh and blood person connected with the enterprise.  The sound I heard whispering from these types of businesses was:

“We’ll do all the work so you can party like it’s 1999.  And it will only cost you $29.99 per month.”

Breaking news:  It’s not 1999 and no amount of magical thinking is going to make things happen cost-effectively unless a few people get together and do some work.

I have respect for professional event planners; I know a few.  I’m happy to promote the ones I know because they do good work.  They put their names on their web sites and they respond to e-mails.  They’re not afraid to get their hands dirty.

For the Lisbon High School Class of 1982, it’s “back to school” time.  Through the technology of the internet and Facebook, classmates are pitching in and helping to locate the missing.  Not everyone will go and that’s ok.  It would be wonderful if every classmate could be there, but that would be magical thinking and that’s not what we learned in high school back in the early 80’s.

Here’s to dirty hands, Lisbon Greyhounds, and good times!  No magic needed. 

Posted in Friday Pillow Talk | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Friday Pillow Talk – Class Reunion Dirt Dreams

Giving Up The Ghost

Posted on August 30, 2012 by Julie-Ann Baumer

These patio flowers are in the final stages of their lives; they’ve given everything this summer.

I’m going to miss them.

On to the chrysanthemums!

Posted in Minimalist | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Giving Up The Ghost

The Aunt Tomato Discourse

Posted on August 29, 2012 by Julie-Ann Baumer

This week, I’ve been busy lamenting the end of summer:

“…the crickets…”

“…the Dark Days of August…”

“…no waves…”

I even tagged my Hydrangea post with the words “eternal rest.”

Sadly, nothing says the end of summer like tomato plants.  Even if the vines are bowed down low with ripe, fat tomatoes, the leaves are starting to wither and fall off.  Some of my tomatoes are ripening on what looks like twisted sticks.

I started my seeds too early, I didn’t keep good records of what I planted, and I wasn’t thoughtful about the plant types I grew.  In spite of these things, I had a decent tomato harvest this year.  Some things were better this year than last year and vice versa.

I like to grow “indeterminate” tomatoes.  These are climbing varieties that need to be staked, trellised, caged and pruned; they produce fruit over an extended period of time and act like a vine instead of a plant.  They’re like upright cucumbers, sort of.  They can get quite tall.

I also select “heirloom” seeds, so I can save them if I get apocalyptically motivated.

Following is a summary of Aunt Tomato’s 2012 tomatoes and a few thoughts about each of them:

Halladay’s Mortgage Lifter
Three generations of Kentucky farmers named Halladay can’t be wrong.  These beefsteak tomatoes are big; most fruits are about 2 pounds.  They are ugly.  They are meaty and delicious and make excellent BLT sandwiches.  I’ll grow these tomatoes again next year.  How can you not like a tomato called “Mortgage Lifter?”

Amish Paste
This mid-sized tomato is tasty and excellent for making tomato sauce.  Once again, I planted too many this year because I imagined myself preserving gallons of tomato sauce.  I’ll grow them again, but 3 or 4 plants will be just right.

Valencia
I went to the Maine Agricultural Trade Show in 2010; Johnny’s Selected Seeds had a booth and they were giving away 10-seed packets of this organic heirloom breed.  I finally started a few this year (3 year old seed) and they were lovely to look at and good to eat.  They produced a lot of fruit on sturdy vines.  Johnny’s catalogue describes them as “sunny orange fruits with full tomato flavor” to which I say “absolutely true” and “on the list for 2013.”

Tommy Toe and Mexican Midget
Both of these tomato plants produced cherry tomatoes; I couldn’t remember which was which when I planted them.  They were very similar in size, texture, and taste.  I was surprised that they did not produce much fruit and they did not have a memorable flavor.  I will not grow these tomatoes next year.

Riesentraube
These grape tomatoes are my favorites to grow and I only had one plant this year, tucked away in my secret garden.  Last year, I planted four plants and it was too much because Riesentruabe is a heavy producer.  Uncle Bob loves them and next year, I will make sure to plant some of these in my home garden, just for him.  Riesentraube is also my “object lesson” of choice.  I like to bring them to work or as hostess gifts and say “see, I grew these and you can too.”

Silvery Fir Tree
This plant is the only “determinate” variety I’ve grown.  Seed Savers Exchange describes it as a “traditional Russian variety with distinctive carrot-like silvery-gray foliage” and “does well in hanging baskets or on patios.”  Sadly, they didn’t do well on The Coop’s patio or in my Hampton Victory Garden raised bed.  Last year, they did passably in my home garden.  I’m out of these seeds now and won’t be reordering.

While not every type of tomato was perfect, I had a variety of types, ranging from beefsteak to salad to canning and I’m going to save some Riesentraube seeds for next year.  I learned a few new things and I’ve got some things to think about this winter.

I’m going to knock it off on the “end of summer” stuff right now.

How were your tomatoes this summer?

Posted in Dear Aunt Tomato | Tagged , , | Comments Off on The Aunt Tomato Discourse

Cowabunga, Dude!

Posted on August 28, 2012 by Julie-Ann Baumer

I’m out of coffee.

This might be a serious problem if I didn’t live near KB’s, a place I affectionately call “the surfer dude coffee shop.”  I’ve been an irregular customer since I moved here in 1999; back then it was called “JB’s.”

KB’s is a simple place; they sell bagels, sandwiches, and coffee.  There’s a big flat screen Tee Vee in the “living room” and the regulars sit around on couches, drinking coffee and eating bagels.  Sometimes, a regular will pick up the guitar in the corner and strum a tune.  There’s an ATM outside, next to the newspaper boxes, and in the summer, there are umbrella-covered tables.

They have good coffee; my favorite is “Wake Up!”

In addition to steady food, friendly people, and coffee, many of the regulars are surfers.  The New Hampshire seacoast really has a surfing scene.  Sure, it’s not Hawaii or California, but we have three surf shops, surf festivals, and lots of sidewalk surfers.  I’ve seen people giving the “Shaka sign.”

There are movies about surfing in New Hampshire.

Yesterday, I walked over to get a cup of “Wake Up!” and ran into Anthony; he’s been my friend ever since I moved to Hampton although I see him ever so occasionally.  He’s a surfer, an excavator, and a father.  Anthony was standing outside the shop, talking to the owner.  We chatted a bit, swapped “alohas” and had a “long time, no see” kind of conversation and then he waved to a guy on a bicycle.  He said “you know it’s not good when he’s riding his bicycle that slow.”  I asked him what he meant and he explained that there was no surf and no one was in a hurry to get anywhere.

I teased Anthony and his bicycle-riding friend by telling them “I’m going to write a blog post about all the sad surfers at Hampton Beach!”

It’s true, the surf is going to be small and poor (1 – 2 feet high) for the next few days; according to surfline.com “the tide looks to be pretty blown out.”  Even though it’s hurricane season in the Atlantic, we’re between storms.  The ocean is flat and calm.  It’s a good time for groms (young surfers) to take lessons and gremmies (inexperienced surfers) to practice.  SUPs (stand up paddleboards) are a pleasant distraction when there’s only a sunny, still ocean.

At this point in my life, I probably won’t be paddling out on a long board anytime soon.  I’m always going to be a hodad (non-surfer), walking along the wall in my flip-flops.  I’ll continue observing the surfing scene over a cup of hot coffee.

Speaking of which, it’s time for my cup of “Wake Up!” right now.

Aloha!

Posted in Weather and Seasons | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Cowabunga, Dude!

The Dark Days of August

Posted on August 27, 2012 by Julie-Ann Baumer

One of my friends refers to this time of year as “The Dark Days of August.”  She coined the phrase when her two sons were still in elementary school.  I suppose when you have two young boys running around your backyard all summer, wearing down the lawn, making noise, and testing your patience, things might seem dark in the weeks just before they go back to school.

Then, too, there is the August garden reminding us of our mortality.  Once-thriving plants “give up the ghost” after leaving us their fruit or flower, exhausting their last bit of energy.

Sometimes gradually and sometimes suddenly, things peak, fade, and die.  The days are getting shorter and although the August sun is still hot, there’s a little bit less of it.

Then there are the sounds of crickets.

I had my own “Dark Days of August” moment on Saturday; my mother and I were looking at the melons I planted in the garden.  A few grew well and were delicious, but they took up a lot of space for what they delivered.  My mother suggested I grow something more productive and I agreed.

I’m thinking big pole bean tee pees.

The season is turning the corner; seize this day and all its bright light!

Posted in Abundance | Tagged , , | Comments Off on The Dark Days of August

The Redemption Garden

Posted on August 26, 2012 by Julie-Ann Baumer

I started work on a new “secret garden” yesterday.

I’m going to give up my other secret garden.  I haven’t written about this “other” secret garden as I promised I would; I will.  When I pick the last Riesentraube tomato, I will find some witty way to write about that particular square of dirt.  It just won’t be today.

Cool your jets.

As a writer, words are always rushing around in my head, looking for other words to align with into perfect sentences and paragraphs.  Sometimes, one or two words will fight for my attention and say “use us at titles for a blog post.”  I could have called this garden the “Hub Cap Garden” because of the fine quality “plas-teek” Honda hub cap which was sitting in it.  Unfortunately, if I called it the “Hub Cap Garden” it might imply that I was interested in growing or collecting plas-teek hub caps and I am not.

After weeding, I took a spin up the road to buy some bagged compost, thinking about words to describe this new garden.  I passed a “Redemption Center.”  Maine has a “Bottle Bill” and so Maine has “Redemption Centers” where people can bring their cans and bottle and redeem them for cash money.

When I looked up the word “redeem” in my Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary (which is actually not new and redeemed from a roadside dumpster) there are actually six different explanations for the word.  The word is also used many times in the Bible; my exhaustive concordance states the word “redeem” and its derivatives is used 162 times.

Here are a few of the definitions I like:

  • To free from what distresses or harms
  • To change for the better, reform, repair, restore
  • To make good, worthwhile

The definition of “redemption” is “the act, process, or an instance of redeeming.”

I think I’m going to call this little work in progress my “Redemption Garden.”

(Yes, I am wiping a little tear from the corner of my eye.)

What do you think?

Posted in Today We Rest | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on The Redemption Garden