Last Thing

Wrote a poem while not being able to sleep. Tried to capture some of that mushy overlapping thinking that goes on when I'm really tired. It's not a great poem, but I'm glad to express something. Figure I'll post it before I overthink.

Last Thing

The last thing I want to do right now is write a poem.
Can't sleep no sleep under the fan's
too cold quilt's too hot and thick
blades keep turning sheet's too thin
five thirty-nine the Y is open
up on yesterday's caffeine
do a treadmill in my blue shorts
driving in a fog and hope
no one hits me
thinking carpet, laminate gotta
fix the kitchen focus on the fog
blurry tiredness baseboards
stainless steel sound of air
but indistinctly sink into a
sinking feeling for the crash.

Can you see me now?

Last Saturday: beautiful weather, Brazos Bend park, looking at trees.
This Saturday: torrential rain, Clear Lake parking lot, looking at stranded cars.
I'm so glad we took the truck today -- I've done the car in high water thing before and it wasn't fun. Still, I guess it gives me time to try to fix the OpenGL rotations.

MacPort Day

This is what the weather looked like the day we delivered the first beta of the Mac port of the graphics software we've been working on. Yep. Overcast with thunderstorms later in the day. Real Seattle weather -- guess Microsoft has influence upstairs. Maybe if the sun were shining we'd get more frames per second :)
But still, this is a big achievement (mostly of Keith's)

Before the big storm, Kim showed me all the stuff going on in her garden including the budding blueberries and the tomato plant that almost ate Texas (and still might). I was inspired, so I went to Houston Garden Center in the rain and picked out a couple of ajuga to fill up the empty spots left in the ajuga area. Or maybe I'll plant them under the strawberry bush. Possibilities ... hmmm....

Brazos Bend :)

Had a great day yesterday. Persuaded Kathryn to go to Brazos Bend with me. Actually, it wasn't hard. Apparently all I have to do is prefix a request by "would you like to go in the truck to X" and the answer will be "yes." Kathryn calls this "the truck novelty." I'm trying not to only use this information only for important things. We had a great time walking the trails and I got a rare shot of Kathryn taking pictures. I like this picture because it shows her intensity and focus on getting the shot she wants. Naturally, she will hate this picture, because she hates all picture of herself.

After walking around, we headed briefly down to Bryan Beach, then ate at our favorite German restaurant in Lake Jackson. Had my first Samuel Smith's Imperial Stout. Delicious! All in all, a wonderful day, and a very welcome change from work/school. It made me want to visit other state parks. I feel an Austin trip coming on... Kathryn's never been there and is interested.

Dirt Day 2.5

Didn't go to Brazos Bend today. But I did fix up the second garden. Got some plants from Houston Garden Center for cheap. Decided that this garden will be white and green with a little bit of yellow. This should go well with the dogwood that's already there, if it ever flowers. I don't usually get annuals, but they had a deal -- a 24pk of white begonias for $5.77. Also got some really interesting variegated asiatic jamine. I'm hoping these will fill in during the winter time when the begonias go away.

Spontaneous flowering

Came home today to the most beautiful flower. I think it's a daylily. It's not really part of the official garden -- it just sticks out of the lawn. Each year, it comes up, flowers, and disappears. The first year, I thought it was a weed, and mowed it down before it bloomed, but still the next Spring it came up. It's interesting owning a house -- you inherit a history, and not only in rotting wood, or strange-colored linoleum two layers beneath the current bathroom floor. A garden has a history too, and it's nice to feel like I'm adding to it.

Used the truck today for hauling dirt and a landscape timber home from Lowes. Man, it was so much easier than fitting it in the Camry -- and easier to get out on the other end too. The 8ft landscape timber fit diagonally across the bed with the tailgate up. Sweet! And no worries about the rear suspension giving out. Must get those hydraulics replaced on the liftgate, though. Got bonked on the head twice :) I think I'm going to like having a truck. Tomorrow... dirt day 2.5. Or maybe I'll leave that for Sunday and go to Brazos Bend instead.