One of the pleasant surprises of New Home 2.0 is that there are a great many parks (local and state) that are within easy commute distance. Today's pictures are taken from a park we visited last Saturday, a very nice 2.2 mile hike and done in time for breakfast.
---
Not going to The Ranch this month was not as bad as I thought it might be.
More or less, I have been traveling there regularly for almost 6 years on a monthly basis, so I anticipated that might be some kind of shock when I did not head out as I have in the past.
In point of fact, since the closing The Ranch has not entered my mind much at all. I am not sure whether to be alarmed or concerned by that - perhaps both. That something that was a big part of my life has effectively disappeared and it has not created more angst at this point genuinely surprises me.
We have certainly had plenty to do here in New Home 2.0 to fill up the time. Life, it seems, moves on.
---
I have been re-reading Paul Rahe's The Grand Strategy of Ancient Sparta series again.
The series starts with the foundation of Sparta in the Dark Ages of Greece and continues down through the end of Peloponnesian War (404 B.C.) (One more book is planned to cover the Spartan Hegemony 404 -371 B.C.).
Rahe is a good writer and his documentation is fabulous; each book has pages and pages of cited endnotes. He does theorize some, but only based on sources that he presents so one can clearly see his chain of thought.
The story of Sparta is both weird and fascinating, a state that was a mystery even to the other Greek States of their time and something very different from everything else that existed at the time. Reading Rahe's theory on why they acted as they did makes more sense now on the second reading than the first, understanding that given the nature of the state (slaves, or helots, outnumbered the Spartiates by between 5 and 7 to 1), everything was organized around preventing a slave revolt and (after the 6th Century B.C.) in keeping the peace in the Peloponnese specifically and the greater Greek peninsula generally.
Understanding the "why" of a thing makes behaviours more clear.
The series itself currently is likely around 2,000 pages plus endnotes. Highly recommended.
---
The Community Garden Allotment continues apace.
I have yet to post pictures, because I am still not sure that anything, let alone everything, is going to make it. Even now, we have cool evenings and have not really topped 80 F on a regular basis - pleasant for living, maybe not so much for gardening.
I have been experimenting a bit based on what I see other gardeners doing, putting down some small paths covered with wood chips and exposing the soil more than I was wont in New Home - given the temperature change, it seems to be the thing.
I have at least one more set of planting to do, more corn and soybeans and possibly potatoes (my first potato planting was a complete bust).
---
One of the things that the Memorial Day weekend brought to light was how much I do not care for my job at this point.
In lots of ways it is still good - the pay is good, the benefits are good, my coworkers are engaging, the work is important. But having a weekend where we got to chose what to work on or not work on, not having to go in at a specific time or leave late, and not having to argue about the 102 minor points that are part of the job but in the scope of things will matter not at all - all of this makes me yearn more and more to just be done.
I am not there yet. But these types of weekends keep pushing me farther down that road.
Good luck with the garden TB, watch those weeds and don't forget the watering! Going to have bring out the hose today, lack of rain the past week means the potatoes and onions in my garden need help. Boy, Sparta.....been a long time since that Ancient Civ class during freshman year.
ReplyDeleteNylon12, watering away - although we are sitting in the 70's and 80's next week with a chance of rain next Friday - Sunday.
DeleteThis is second time I have read Rahe's books, and the first time effectively reading them as a single series. Having all the works at once does make a difference for the flow.
Quit your job. Sounds easy, right? It is.
ReplyDeleteAnon - Yes and no. Yes, it is easy enough to quit. I did that, once upon a time - with a rather half baked follow-up plan. That did not go well. It is not just the action, it is what follows. I at least learned that last time around.
DeleteI have never tried to raise a garden in a dramatically different climate so I imagine it would take some time. I'm still learning about my own climate after more than five decades! Granted, our climate is changing and seeds/crops are constantly evolving but still, it is quite humbling.
ReplyDeleteEd, if I grow anything edible this year, I will count it a victory.
DeleteSo nice that you have such lovely walking places close by. And it sounds like you're learning from your garden experiments.
ReplyDeleteI'm a great one for pondering the "why" of things. Usually in terms of human nature and motivation. All speculation, of course, but somehow having a "why" helps things make sense.
Leigh, we are incredibly fortunate in the range of walking places we have now. Also, the weather is much more generally conducive to walking than in New Home. I do not miss humidity.
DeleteCurrently my learning seems to be mostly "What not to do", but I will continue on. Some people there have amazing garden plots, so clearly the issue is not the plot.
In my line work, getting people to understand the "why" of what we do helps to drive the rules and regulations for how we do it. If that connection can be made, things are generally easier.