A Journal of Sorts

21 February 1999

I smell better than the dog

Jason had an inspiration. I was sitting in the back yard and he came to join me. Suddenly, he started talking about the landscaping. He described a flagstone walk, a pond, a fountain, a gazebo, flowers everywhere and even vine things. After soliciting my agreement, he was ready to start, so he got his shovel and I pointed out where we needed to dig the first bed for the mums and clematis. He dug a hole about 6" by 6" before he broke his shovel and quit.

We had to go to Tom's folks' house today. His sister, Ellen, and her two kids are in town from Holland. It is always good to see his family; I feel comfortable over there. Daniel thinks it is odd that one joins their spouse's family when one marries, but he likes them too. How could anyone NOT love them? They are so loving and all that good stuff!

Tom took his new toy over (the digital camera) and wowed them all with his skills. He played with the photos and some PhotoShop type program he found on Dad's computer. This really entertained his niece and nephew, Kevin and Christy. They especially liked when he warped his sister Mary's face into a big nose picture. . they thought she looked like a pig. I'm not so sure Mary was impressed with that. When Tom left, she decided to cut the kids' heads and put them on a Christmas tree - ahh, such creative people. If my photos don't turn out the way I want them, I have no idea how to fix them. I fiddle with them for hours, then give up and ask Tom to do it for me.

Dinner was take-out chicken and some yummy beans Mom made. The company and conversation, as usual, was excellent. They had a wedding gift for us from someone I don't know (but Tom does). It was a gorgeous pie plate and a Tart/Pastry cookbook. I'm going to have a good time with those, I'm sure.

We stopped by Hank's house on the way to Tom's folk's. He had a clematis for us to dig up. (part of my habitat project for our yard). He also had us dig one for Tom's mother. I've always admired Hank. He is one of my idols as he is one of the most eccentric people I've ever met.

I had been telling Tom about him and one of the things I mentioned to Tom was that Hank is always out picking weeds. Many times, I've been on an outing with him and he will go off on a tangent, pull some leaves off of a tree, or pick a weed and say, "Taste this." Then he tells a little story about the history of the plant, what the Indians used it for, etc. This visit was no exception. He had a weed in a vase. "Look what I found when I was out walking. Here, nibble on the end of it. Do you taste pepper?" Although he told us what it was, he also told us that it was a relative of the plant used to poison Augustus Caesar. He mused that it was strange that ol' Augustus couldn't taste it. His wife painted it on the figs he was eating. Apparently he would eat nothing but the figs off the fig trees in his courtyard because he thought someone was trying to poison him.

When we got home, it was bedtime. Our cable TV was still out. I guess Tom felt that he had to watch SOMETHING because he pushed the videotape in the VCR. It was my graduation tape and he actually watched the whole graduation. He must have been desperate. I could identify a lot of people from their shoes, which is mostly what the video was. . the ground as the cameraperson walked around with the camera on.

After my bath, Tom made the comment, "You smell good". I told him that I wanted to smell as good as the puppy. He said, "You smell BETTER than the dog and you can put THAT in your journal."

He's so romantic.