Organization Requires Daily Dose Of Chaos
Pour yourself some coffee to keep you awake, because here comes my second almost-annual Christmas letter.
Three days before Christmas and all through this house, nothing has changed, except for the mouse. (The cats took care of that.) Though the stockings are hung and the tree stands so tall, chaos still manages to reign through it all.
Dear friends, Jan. 1, 1995, started out with the best of intentions - to get myself organized and stay organized. I even bought a personal organizer to help my cause.
On Jan. 2, I lost the organizer and my resolution with it. Oh, how many hours are lost searching for misplaced items? January and February are my “slow” months - a time for getting the office tidied up and trade journals read. But because of the mild ‘94-‘95 winter, the “slow” months moved in and out in a flurry. The only tidying I did was to move the clutter of randomly scattered trade journals, magazines and books into one giant stack resembling the Great Wall of China. This wall of work is presently serving as a plant stand for overwintering geraniums.
With the short winter, the gardening season came on like gangbusters. Aside from the normal chaos of late winter - testing growlights, cleaning pots and readying the greenhouse for propagating flowers and veggies - all of a sudden, trees were budding, weeds were growing and the lawn (a hay field because it didn’t get its last mowing in ‘94) needed mowing. Of course the mower was being serviced along with 407 other mowers. Discharge date was June something.
But even with these wrenches thrown into my otherwise cluttered spring, I knew I could catch up. Due to a beautiful wedding garden party the summer of ‘93, all the hard, time-consuming type of yard work had been completed - designing, digging, and reshaping flower beds.
That is, I thought they were done, until one April day when I stepped out onto the deck to survey the garden. Something wasn’t right with the rock wall in the back yard. I couldn’t put my finger on it. And then it hit me. The wall was too straight. Naturally it had to come down. A few loads of rock and four yards of soil later, the bed had gained a little height and a lovely curve.
Changing one bed’s shape often necessitates changing nearby beds in order to conform. Which can lead to even other beds - and did I neglect to mention that during all this activity our second grandbaby was born in Seattle? Consequently, without any remorse whatsoever, the garden was put on hold for a couple of weeks in July.
For most vegetable gardens, September means harvest. But I don’t have to be too concerned with that chore. By that time of the year, husband Jim’s giant pumpkin vines have usually smothered everything in their path. Even the zucchini are no match for his vines. This year he harvested six big guys, one weighing nearly 250 pounds.
Usually we make a run to the coast to share the pumpkin bounty with our children, but this year we waited until the birth of our third grandbaby to go over. Since that didn’t happen until Nov. 1, the pumpkins stayed home and made for some great fall decorations.
Though winter brings a sudden end to the garden chores outdoors, the garden chores indoors are just beginning. There were geraniums and fuchsias that needed to be repotted and saved. Summer bulbs needed to be cleaned and stored. And the three-inch-deep soil that accompanied them onto my kitchen floor needed to be shoveled out.
And finally, gardening must step aside for the glorious Christmas season. A season of love, family and friends, sharing and goodwill. And it’s a season of traditions.
The tradition of decorating is big at our house. I wonder if the day will ever come when all the decorations go up without a hitch. All seemed to go smoothly this year - the Christmas tree was standing on its own, the cards were out before Epiphany and the outdoor lights didn’t cause a major power outage in the neighborhood.
Still, there were a couple of glitches. Fifty-mile-per-hour winds relocated a few strands of lights and the cats used the box of stored garlands as their summer litter box. Needless to say, the garland fragrance was not that of pine or fir.
It seems that no matter how organized I try to be this time of the year, I still find myself in holiday chaos. But this year there was an incredible silver lining - six days ago we were blessed with our fourth grandbaby.
And on that happy note, dear friends, we wish you a blessed and joyous Christmas.
The Stephens family
(Cats and all)
The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Phyllis Stephens The Spokesman-Review