The Late Bloomer

Mid-July 2008


A PLANTLADY’S LIFE IN GEEKATOPIA

Yes, mid-July and only now has the sun kicked into gear warming the air and my “victory garden” is playing catch up. If I had no calendar and had only the weather to go by I’d say this is a very lovely early spring. I have planted the basil twice - the first batch having caught cold and died a blackened miserable death. By mid-July we should be half-past peas but the silky purple blossoms are barely metamorphosing into tender pods. I have been harvesting tiny red and green lettuce leaves for my salad, amazed that all by itself my garden knows how to make food for me - though it’s taking its own sweet time!

I take a certain comfort that Mother Nature herself is sometimes a late bloomer - I’m still waiting to be the next blazing star on the bestseller list. We Capricorn mountain goat types must be content to plod doggedly on until we reach the pinnacles - no leaping to the heights for us! Eventually (I am told) we get there but it is hard to be patient when I hear of twenty-somethings with three-book deals and screen plays up for Oscars. All the great Romantic poets died before their first grey hair (Well, actually Lord Byron at 36 was getting pretty decrepit but he’s in the minority.)

All this leading up to my apology for the late blog posting - though you can’t imagine my astonishment when I received concerned emails. I have readers! Who knew?! Consider this my “make up” blog - though since I’m writing it at 5 a.m. on thursday before I rush off to Geekatopia you will just have to forgive the brevity - I promise to mend my languid, lazy ways. I’m serious! Really.