4/20/08 Sunday
It’s 4:40 in the morning. I’ve been wide awake since three. I suppose this is a good time to catch up on the journal. We went to Matt’s farmer’s market yesterday. I don’t remember if I mentioned him visiting us earlier this week so will mention it now. Matt visited us earlier this week. Cherie had found his number and he had sent out an email regarding the market so I gave him a call. When he came I gave him the grand tour of everything I’ve been working on. He asked about my needs so brought some stuff to the farmer’s market. The biggest help will be the seeder he’s letting me borrow. Sitting on the ground and putting seeds in the earth is painful for me, hurts more than lifting something heavy. Matt also gave me some soil amendment stuff to fix up my dirt. That plus advice on how to do stuff will be a big help as well.

Here at the farm things are slowly progressing. By the time we got home we both were drained so didn’t get much more done. On the way home Janie called. She was at the Bad Boy Blast (A big fund raiser for the local police agencies) and the battery for her camera had run down. She asked if we could get her other one and bring it out. No problem, just a U-turn across the interstate median and head back to Midland. We were glad to be able to help.

This was the second day for the Blast and boy was it crowded. There were more than a thousand that showed up the first day and I suspect even more were there on this Saturday. For those of you not from the area the fund raiser is a skeet shooting event at Windwalker, which is maybe five miles away from our place. In fact we can hear the shotguns going off. There was tons of food and stuff but we were tired and neither of us do good with a lot of commotion and activity, especially me, so we didn’t stay.

I cleared out space in the garage and started working on the greenhouse. That is not going to be fun. Spent some time sorting the different pieces out, trying to figure what goes where. It’s a confusing array of parts. I gave up after a bit and came in. Cherie and I had scheduled working on the living room but we were both tired so nothing got done. Maybe today we will get to it.

It’s five now. Cherie stirred a little and the dogs came in to check on us but she’s back to deep sleep judging from her breathing. I sure wish I could go online at times like this, get some stuff done. Maybe later that can happen.

Go figure, I’m feeling tired now. We will be getting up to get ready for church in an hour or two anyway but I’ll try to snooze a little.
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3:50 – It’s a hot hot day. Going to get into the nineties over the next few. This is spurring me to get the water line run to the evaporative air conditioner. I had wanted to run one from the hot water heater under the house out to it but couldn’t figure out how to tap into the water line. I know there is a way but would get confused looking at all the stuff in the plumbing section of the stores. Last year we just used a garden hose and that’s what we will do this year. I just want to bury it in order to protect the hose because it crosses the driveway and the well traveled path between the house and the garage. The hose Wally and Jen gave us will work perfectly as it is long enough to make the journey. It’s an old used one they had stored away and had a leak or two in it but that’s what I had asked for knowing I can easily repair them. But it’s a hot job digging a trench.

I found another well cover while digging the trench. It’s only four or five feet away from the other one. Every time I dig I find something. It’s too bad that my only relatives in the area choose not to talk to me. Ah yes…good Christian people showing the love of Jesus. (sarcasm intended) They could help me know the history of this place and understand what it is I find. But my expressing my thoughts about the mysterious unknown, and in some cases known, persons who stole what they wanted over the years evidently hit close to home. If you’re not guilty don’t act guilty.

Right now I came in for a break and something cold to drink. The dogs are smarter than I am as they are staying inside. Cherie is sick today. Her broken molar is once again infected and it has spread into her sinuses. She tells me the tooth has been broken and giving her problems since about the year 2000. It is unfortunate that dentists require payment up front or they won’t do the work. Otherwise we would have it fixed and make payments. Hopefully we can make enough money farming to cover it. There is so much that needs to be done. These are the kinds of things all poor people in this country endure and it is good in a way that we can experience these hardships. I know that sounds strange but having been homeless wandering lost in this realm opened my eyes to many things. I feel I am to help others see, to open eyes to the plight of those less fortunate and thus bring understanding and compassion. It is the heart of God. Jesus spent his time with those who were looked down on, who were sick, poor, and rejected. There are more references in the bible to the poor and downtrodden (837) than almost any other subject.

West Texas is hard on plant life. Of the four blueberry bushes only one is still making it. Two never came out and the leaves dried up on the other one. None of the raspberries show any life but two of the three blackberries have leaves on them. I saw evidence of more gopher activity out there today. They will be a constant challenge and battle. Destructive little creatures. Keeping things watered will be a tremendous challenge. As funds come available I will buy more soaker hoses and drip feed irrigation stuff. But I haven’t managed to install what I have as it is.

It’s time to get back out in the heat. At church today Dave or Ed (I always get them confused) asked if I was planting in the full moon. I thought about it yesterday night but was too tired. I think I will go out there tonight as that’s when the temperature is manageable. Also I’ll set the alarm to get out to work early before things heat up. I’m anxious to use the seeder Matt let me borrow. With that in mind I will prepare the rows where the black-eyed peas are to go, till in the compost, fertilizers, and soil amendment stuff Matt gave me. Hope the moon is out early. It looks like the sky will be clear but you never know around here.