nixtress's Diaryland Diary

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Melancholy Monday

It's been a long day. For the first time in quite some time, I've been in a bit of a funk. Things have been going swimmingly...just melancholy today. Too much worry roaming my brain, I guess.
It was a funny day. I've managed to irritate just about everybody close to me today. I think the only person not frustrated with me was my Gramps! Because it was so overcast and sporadically raining, I wouldn't let the boys or my sis in the pool. Bedlam ensued, of course. God forbid I refuse the POOL!
I'm sure tomorrow will be better. Force of will, right?
***
Not going to go into my opinions of the Mikey Jackson turn out. I will, however, say that if a plane dropped into my front yard, as it did in Ft. Lauderdale today, I'd probably pee my pants. I mean, who expects THAT? That combined with Arlene...you couldn't pay me to live there. Visit, maybe. I have an inclination to go see some Mickey but no living there, no sirree BOB.
***
In a totally unrelated tangent! From the time I was 16 until just after I turned 20, I worked in a green house. (I also babysat and cleaned for drunk old people but those are other stories) Loved it. I was so far removed from being a prissy girl it wasn't funny. I'd come home with dirt down my bra, dirt in my ears, you name it---there was dirt. Because I had to attend school by day, most of my work hours began from 2pm and on and it was nothing to work way after dark. My boss there had set up lights on a timer and we worked mostly alone, mixing soil in a huge metal machine built just for the task or filling pots or moving plants around. A girl I was in Horticulture with, Tracey and a guy named Tom worked with me and we'd have to heft these huge bags of perlite and peat moss up and into this mixer. I can't recall how many times we'd end up picking peat out of our teeth or trying not to breathe it. The perlite was the worst because it was all gritty and chalky. And the soil room was only a rounded hut covered in plastic and when it rained, there was invariably a leak. Today's rains reminded me of that. Many a rainy day, we'd end up in mud fights while waiting for the soil to mix, tossing handfuls of mud and screaming when they hit. A thorough hosing down was called for after, for who wanted to ride home covered in mud?
I loved that job. One of my favorite parts was being sent off into the far houses to water for hours on end. Springtime was crazy busy and it was nothing to not see another person for your entire shift. Something very relaxing about being off by yourself, only the sounds of birds outside and the soft patter of water hitting newly planted greenery, basking in the heat and humidity.
I liked transplanting too. My boss had the operation set up on a conveyor and we each had our station. The whole point was to stuff these tiny plants in these tiny holes as quickly as you were able and it didn't take long to develop a rhythm with the people you were working with.
You've not felt creepy until the first night you wander through a completely dark greenhouse. Just...creepy. Eventually I was comfortable enough to scare the bejesus out of my coworkers by jumping out of places people shouldn't have been. Fun stuff.
There was an older man who worked days there, Bob. He was gruff and grumbly and initially, I thought he hated me. I eventually found out that he was one of those people who holds back to see what one's really made of. He always wore flannel shirts, even in the hottest heat, and big rubber boots that he clomped along in. And he always smelled of butter rum lifesavers. To this day, I can't eat them without thinking of him. He eventually became like a dad to me. He raised rabbits, not only to eat but as 4-H pets for his daughter. I learned how to cook them from him.
I heard from my mother a few days ago that he'd died. Massive heart attack. It struck me speechless.
Funny the things you think when it rains.
Happy Monday, one and all.
N.

11:31 p.m. - 2005-06-13

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