Yesterday I went with my family to Green Mountain. How is it that we have lived in this area for so long, and never knew about this jewel? Such a pretty park!!!! There is only one problem - it's on top of a mountain, and I don't do mountains very well. It's really very sad, because as a 13 year old, I had decided that I would marry John Denver and move to Colorado with him. I hadn't figured out just what to do about Annie, or how we would meet, or what would persuade him to fall in love with a young teen-ager. It just wasn't a very well thought out goal, but it was mine and I dreamed about it for hours as I listened to Sunshine on my Shoulders and Rocky Mountain High. Mountains were not a common thing in Memphis, and although we would go to the Ozarks on vacations as a child, it wasn't until I became an adult that I realized just how frightening the prospect of running off the road and down the side of a mountain could be. So I guess it's just as well that I never met John Denver, much less married him. The more immediate concern is, How will I ever be able to get back to this lovely park without falling to pieces?
On the way to the park, we were behind a car that had those advertising magnets on the back. They were advertising rabbits for sell, and since I promised Rachel years ago that I would buy her more bunnies after we moved, I thought it would be good to get the phone number off the back of the car. I used to be able to read things like this from a distance, but those days are long gone. Rebekah was driving the car, and doing a fine job of it as we relentlessly pursued this car, trying to get close enough to write down the number, without getting close enough not to meet under less than ideal circumstances. I think one of the younger kids was able to finally write the number down, and we have not called it yet. But I can't imagine what this person thought as they had probably forgotten about the magnets on the back of the car, and were afraid of the crazy people trying to run them off the road.
Today promises to be a good day. I will be off to the stores shortly to buy black plastic to put down on the garden area. Eric did a second tilling of the area yesterday, and added an extra strip of area for green peas. So I will put the plastic down while I can, and begin laying out the blocks and rows as I have planned.
Today is also a much anticipated day - I have my husband's blessing to buy baby chicks. I want to buy the Rhode Island Reds if possible. I had them in Maryland, and loved them. My first experience with chickens was broiler hens. These are large and sedate birds, whose only mission in life is to eat and poop (and to be butchered around 8 weeks old - but we didn't tell them that was their final destination.). When we later bought our layers, they were reds, and my, how those birds would jump around and move! I have read that the white feathered birds are more high stung than reds, so I think reds it will be. We don't have a coop for them yet, but last weekend I bought a book with ideas for how to build one. I have a little corner of the yard picked out for a chicken coop and run, while Eric wants to build a portable chicken house. I'll let you know how this all works out.
