K. from down the block (aka "The Bird Man") came by to look over the back yard here in the Bronx. Initially he was all "volunteer" about it; yesterday, it was clear he was hustling for paid work (and being skeazy about it). How silly of me - to think that someone would actually do something for nothing. But seriously, I understand, we all need to make ends meet, we all need to do what we need to do. It's the misleading part that bugs me.
So the backyard project may go slower than we thought. Which is fine... "slow and steady wins the race," as they say. In the meantime, I've gone ahead, with our landlord's approval (and funding) on a few plants for the stoop and fire escape: two butterfly bushes, a couple of lavenders (hardy Grappenhall), and wild lettuces. We did the supplies shopping last night (pots, trowel, potting soil) and picked up the plants from Trina at Union Square Market today. Trina's nursery is the one out in the country; my butterfly bushes were labeled and ready for me.
Lettuces, lettuces. From Louise Gluck's poem "A Village Life," recently published in The New Yorker:
I move through the dark as though it were natural to me,
as though I were already a factor in it.
Tranquil and still, the day dawns.
On market day, I go to the market with my lettuces.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
I'm impressed! Your garden (labor and fruit) is fabulous! OMG!!! Just as i was typing this, something hit the kitchen window that i'm facing - i think it was a bird, mainly because of the tiny feathers floating around post-crash and there are 5 bird feeders and a bird bath right outside the window. I went outside to check but there are ground cover bushes and I can't see and I'm too chicken to poke in there. What to do? My first suburban moral dilemma!
Post a Comment