Today launched our post-Memorial summer hours at work, when we’re released at 3:30. And I made the most of my extra hours. First, at a Rocky River garage sale, I found an armload of name-brand clothes for a dollar each and then something I haven’t purchased for at least 15 years: A family of Breyer model horses like the ones I used to collect when I still thought I’d grow up to be a cowgirl. I bought them, ostensibly, because I know old Breyer horses are valuable (these turned out to be almost as old as me, created in 1986) – but if there wasn’t nostalgia behind these plastic figures that consumed my childhood imagination, I wouldn’t have made the special trip to the ATM.
Then, back home with the new clothes in the laundry, I headed back out to the still-70-degree sunshine to get the rest of the flowers I ordered in the ground before they fried. A few flowerbeds and 10 dirty fingernails later, the remainder of my impatiens, dusty millers and salvia are safely in the ground, ready to be watered with tomorrow’s storm.
Aside from the squash, zucchini and pumpkins – who already have their homes by the patio – I still have to plant what I started from seed, as well as the vegetables and herbs I hope to get from Emerson Farm in Goshen, Ind. But my plans for these seedlings are quickly fading because when I mailed my rent this week, I included a note telling my landlord I’ll be out when my lease is up later this summer. I won’t be around to reap what I’ve sowed (this said to clear my name of blame when vegetables show up missing later, ahem.) I won’t be around next summer to see how much more space the pesky lemon balm commandeers, or how much fuller the chamomile flowers come back. This saddens me briefly, but such is the transient life of a renter.
Now, it’s time to watch my man Daymond on Shark Tank. The highly-polished fashion mogul told me himself that dirty fingernails reveal something about your personal brand. I guess I’ve branded myself a gardener.
