The World of Dragonfly

Okay.  So I know that the Midwest is making all of the headlines this spring with the crazy weather that they’ve been having.  But I’m here to tell you that it is HOT here in North Carolina!  They’re calling for 100 today, 102 tomorrow, and 100 on Monday.  And it’s not even officially summer!  Yikes!

But that’s okay.  Really.  As a native southerner, I’m used to scorching weather, albeit at least later in the summer.  And it’s not a dry heat.  So sorry about that.  No, humidity’s thrown in there.  So the temperature that it would really feel like is 106 to 107, according to Accuweather.com.  It’s nice to know that by Thursday, a “cold front” will bring “cooler” temperatures that will push the highs to about 90.  So until then, those of you who are in the South right now, be thankful for AC, cool showers, and that delicious drink called sweet tea.  Cheers!

I’m a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants kind of gardener. This is very unlike my grandfather. When I was growing up, I remember visiting my granddaddy and grandmother at their house in Florence, SC. It was the same house they’d lived in ever since they’d gotten married in 1932. Out back was a huge garden. I’m terrible with guessing the size of something, but I think it was at least a half acre. He grew everything imaginable, and since he was retired, he was meticulous about keeping it weed free. Another thing I remember about him was the fact that he always smoked a pipe. Up to his last weeks, that pipe was always with him.

So what about gardens and me? Maybe instead of the Constant Gardener I’m the Careless Gardener. I plant the seeds. Wait a few weeks for them to sprout. Then occasionally toss on some fertilizer and water if it doesn’t rain every third day. And wait. The seeds sprout, but so do the weeds. So then I wind up spending all day weeding. But now, maybe, I’m being a little more careful. I’m checking the garden and at least getting out there every other week. And I’ve began putting down grass clippings.

One day, as I was checking the garden, I was leaning over the fence and looking at the tomato plants. It was moist since it’d just rained the day before. I thought I caught a whiff of something I hadn’t smelled in a long, long time, since 1995. It was the faint scent of my granddaddy’s pipe. I sniffed again. It was gone. But I had to smile. It was almost like Granddaddy was standing near me as if to say, “It’s doing okay. You’re doing a great job.” So maybe I’m doing something right. Maybe, one day soon, my garden will produce even a fraction of what his produced. But it doesn’t matter. What did matter was the good memories that one whiff brought.

It’s been one of those days. I’m not meaning that in a bad sense. Instead, I’m talking about one of those days where you wake up, go about your business, and suddenly look up to find that it’s almost ten o’clock at night. So where did my day go? Here’s kind of how my schedule went:

• 6:30 Wake up.
• 7:25 Head to work.
• 7:50 Head to a site visit with one of my coworkers.
• 2:30 Return from site visit with coworker.
• 4:30 Leave work. Head to gym after gassing up car (scary).
• 5:00 Arrive at gym.
• 5:15 Hit the gym floor.
• 6:20 Leave gym.
• 6:30 Arrive home to be greeted by 2 ecstatic basenjis.
• 7:00 Water desperately needy plants that need to be put into the ground and fix part of dinner while also figuring out which bills need to be paid.
• 8:15 Finish dinner and sit down to send out my Web site “launch” e-mail (Yes, I’m behind).
• 9:45 Start to write blog.

Whew! And where, exactly, did my day go? I’m not sure. I, for one, and looking forward to the weekend.

This weekend is the big weekend. My Web site has been unofficially up and running since last week or so. But this weekend is when I officially introduce it. Am I excited? You bet. This has been a long time in coming. Nervous? A little. Putting myself out into the e-world like this is an interesting experience. But I’m eager as well. If you take a look at the Web site, let me know what you think. For those of you who might not access this blog via the Web site, the address is www.jenniferhaynie.com. Have a wonderful weekend.

Okay.  This is my first blog post ever.  I’ve decided that since I’m in the process of preparing a Web page, that a blog would be an interesting feature.  I do have to thank my Uncle Gene for his research into the world of Blog as well as WordPress for making such a venture easy to do.  So bear with me over these next few weeks as I get the blog up and running completely and the Web site going.  When that happens, I’ll gladly share the site link with you.