"Back to the Days of Christopher Robin"

You probably have to be a card-carrying member of AARP to have that phrase set off a song in your head. Loggins and Messina wasn’t it? A number one hit a long time ago, and lately the chorus plays happily in my head each morning as I think about ALL there is to do in the yard. For you “Under 50” folks I will include the lyrics but you should Google it so the catchy tune can be embedded in your waking mind also.

“So, help me if you can I’ve got to get back to the House at Pooh Corner by one
You’d be surprised there’s so much to be done
Count all the bees in the hive; chase all the clouds from the sky
Back to the days of Christopher Robin and Pooh”

You see, in all my previous homes, and thanks to the Army there have been about 14 of them, I generally had variations on a theme of a normal, suburban-sized yard. The geographical location was always changing, taking us from soil in VA that was mostly clay and seeds needed to join Gold’s gym in order to have the “oomph” to push up through it, to New Mexico, where a neighbor did his gardening with a flame thrower (the all-lava, rock yard) and the Cape where sand and salt and so much shade defined what would and would not grow. But who could have foreseen that this move to Texas with its limestone and caliche soil would result in the biggest and best yard I have ever had! All thanks, as I have pointed out before, to the hard work of the previous owner who obviously loved to spend all her time and money outside-a kindred spirit.

But the trick is, a yard like this does take time, which I happily give, but because I also leapt into many a volunteer position to help me feel at home here, I am finding “writing time” is what is missing. But there is SO much to write about! So many things change each day. For the past month we have been inundated with Red Admiral butterflies, but now, as quickly as they came, they seem to have, practically overnight, disappeared. For in the insect world, a month is often all you get as an adult. Come out of that pupa, find a mate, enjoy life, and then fade away. At least that is the Red Admiral’s life span. Hopefully another generation has been laid on the nettles and by June they should be dining at the feeder again.

Ah, the feeder, you see that is why “there is so much to be done”. It’s not enough just to try to weed, mulch, plant and water the many flowerbeds and vegetable garden, but there are so many critters to be fed. Always, my Italian heritage raises its “mangia, mangia” (eat, eat) head. On the Cape, I was a slave to not only, birds in the form of sunflower feeders, thistle feeder, hummingbird feeders, suet feeders etc but also to the chipmunks and squirrels who would practically come bang on the windows if they found the larder bare.

Here in TX, I have all of the above, but have switched out chipmunk food ( a moment of silence here, I still grieve their loss) for butterfly food, and lizard treats and cleaning up after the raccoons. By the way, no sooner had I written the words, “let the raccoons have the spoils each day” of the butterfly fruit remains, then they managed to climb up the tree the feeder hung in and broke both the branch and the feeder and, on the way down, took out a window box. Cleaning that entire mess added to the “Christopher Robin” chores yesterday.

Plus, each day I must “walk the land”. The very first month I arrived I started volunteering at the library and found a book written in the 40’s by a Texas naturalist. In it, he said it was imperative to “walk the land” for a good year before you decided to buy. Feel it under your shoes, know it inside and out. Well, I think I had “walked the land” a total of 30 minutes before I put in my vote that we should buy it, so I am making up for lost time now, “walking the land” not once, but at least 3x daily. It’s amazing how many new things pop up; a new flower, a new emerging fruit on a tree and, amazing how many things threaten to expire daily if I don’t water them. There is a chore I didn’t have on the Cape, at least not daily- watering. I miss God doing my watering for me in the form of rain. The previous owner had an elaborate hose-timer system going, and now, we have bought the needed manifolds that make one hose four and the timers to go with them, but assembling it all will take my engineer husband and he has less free time than I do, so this could take awhile. Meanwhile, its “bring the water Gunga Din” and so, more time slips through my fingers.

But I am NOT complaining, although it may sound that way. Picture me doing all of the above with that lovely song playing in my head and a smile on my face. Oops, but now, not only must I feed everything, but I am “ON” to help at an all-day, Earth Day event at the school on post at Ft Sam. Combining my, “so much to be done” C Robin character, with my constant imitation of the White rabbit from Alice in wonderland, I must run. Hope you have a day that calls upon you to “count all the bees in the hive, chase all the clouds from the sky”. It may all take time, but it is so therapeutic.