I’ve been beset
with five plagues:
CONSTRUCTION: The
environmental studies magnet school where I volunteer has been undergoing a
year of renovation. I learned that, not only were the construction crews going
to dig an eight-foot trench through the lawn in the garden I designed for the school,
they also needed to cut a ten-foot swath right throught the shrubs and
perennials we planted in order to bring in the heavy equipment needed to dig
the trench. I rustled up some gracious volunteers to help me dig the most
valuable plants that were in the way. The work was supposed to be completed in
two weeks. It’s now been six weeks, and the rescued plants are still out of the
ground. I’ve been watering them twice a week. Even so, we’ve lost at least half
of them in this heat.
DROUGHT: In April, volunteers
at the school transplanted 2-3 inch caliper trees with a tree spade and filled
in with sapling native trees. Hardly a drop of rain has fallen since. I started
hand carrying jugs of water to the saplings which were struggling to gain a
foothold. Then at the beginning of July, I noticed the larger transplanted
trees were also threatening to turn into crispy critters. I hustled over to
Walmart and bought thirteen 100-foot hoses so I could access water from the
only available spigot, most of them being inoperable during the construction.
I’ve been watering ever since, trying to keep them alive in 100+ degree heat.
We’ve lost about one-third of what we planted.
TOOTHACHE: Meanwhile,
a tooth began to draw attention to itself when I would take a bite of something
chunky, and it hurt when I tapped it. My dentist prescribed an antibiotic,
which I took for a week. Then the tooth commenced to emit a burning, aching
sensation. Then it would send a jolt of pain if I drank something cold. My
dentist sent me to an endodontist, who took numerous x-rays. The verdict: the
root was alive, but the tooth might be cracked—in short, it was doomed. Next
stop, my periodontist, for a tooth extraction. Multiple sticks with a needle
numbed the area, and Dr. Beagle pulled the offending tooth, number 12. I asked
if he noticed a crack. He didn’t, but allowed as it might have been a
microscopic crack. I told him the endodontist said the tooth was doomed on
account of a crack, and Dr. B responded, “Well it’s doomed now.” Logical, as it
had just been removed, leaving a gap in my smile.
ANTS: They’re all
over my kitchen. We do battle with ants regularly, but the latest round
involves a new tiny variety that’s extremely prolific. Dave has put out the
customary bait all over my counters, and the ants ring themselves around the
drops of poison and suck it up, but more just keep on coming. I have to brush
them out of the way just to cook. One just ended up in my martini. In the time
I set the shot glass down to get the rest of the ingredients, the little booger
hopped aboard and I had to fish him out from among the ice cubes. And they’re
not just in the kitchen. Ants climb on me when I’m sitting on the couch, or
here in my recliner (my preferred writing venue, with my laptop on my lap), and
even at my desk. It’s enough to make me scream.
POISON IVY: It
started on the inside of my right arm, a cluster of the damned itchy blisters,
the bane of this gardener’s existence. I right away applied the last of the
cortisone cream a dermatologist prescribed a year ago. But the affliction has
spread to my breast and armpit, my inner thighs, and my ankle, with new sites
appearing daily. This morning I practically bathed in calamine lotion, and it
helped a little, but I’m sitting here having to force myself to resist the urge
to scratch.
Don’t you feel
sorry for me? I’m ashamed to be complaining when farmers are losing their crops
from the drought and families in Colorado have lost everything to raging fires.
But in my small corner of the world, it’s been tough going for this old gal. Thanks
for listening. I feel better now.
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