how does a plant grow?

We've all been taught that plants need soil, water and sun to grow.  In my yard, I have little of any of those and yet, there are plants growing and even blooming this time of year.

I have primarily shade. The tree-cutting has brought a bit more sun to my front yard, encouraging the beauty berry bushes I moved, as well as the daisies, which have flourished this year.

I have primarily clay.  We've added compost and amended bits here and there, but unless I removed it all and started over, most of the yard is still red clay with holes filled with nice soil.

I have had no rain this summer.  All the storms in the south and east, but my part of Atlanta got only about an inch of rain. "Nearly all of Georgia has been designated a federal agriculture disaster area due to the ongoing drought and excessive heat," says the news.  None of the typical rush hour thunderstorms came through for us (or sent us home from the pool) this summer.  I watered the new plants a bit but can't possibly give the whole yard what it needs.  I've lost some of them, including some which really sadden me. 

The survivors:

lantana- This perennial is always wonderful for the second half of summer. It will remain covered in butterflies until the first frost.

garlic chives- I'll cut the seedpods off since I don't need more chives, but the bees have been enjoying the flowers.

autumn sedum: The blossoms seem to have hosted a bumblebee slumber party last night with many friends still hanging around this morning.

swamp sunflower- (I think that's what this is) which grows 6-8' tall and blooms reliably in the late summer heat

dogwood- The baby dogwood which cost me $10 is alive and well.  I think it will need to be babied all winter and even next summer, but it is worth it to me.

I even have a handful of gardenia blooms and rose blooms this September.


The dearly departed:
My camelias by the front door were ignored. One has made it, one has not. I will shop to replace it.
The winter daphnes by the front door were also forgotten. The one on the far side of the door perished.
Several heutchera plants are gone, the sweet potato vines are missing, and a few new ajuga plants didn't make it.

This is all from my front yard.  I haven't assessed the ferns, but the backyard wall garden looks lush even with it's losses.

September is Fall to some, but here in Atlanta it is Summer 2.0

rolling off the tongue

You never know what will come from a family dinner time conversation.  That's one of the reasons I enjoy them so much.  Last night Bug shared his favorite words with us, then made a list of the favorite words for each of us.

Bug's list:
mystery
pathetic
enthusiastic
gorgonzola

My favorites:
papillion (French for butterfly)
Guatemala

CD's faves
polysyllabic
strengths
humuhumunukunukuapuaa (Hawaiian word for the Trigger fish)

Pook's favorites:
supercalifragilisticexpialidocious
zyzzyva
samurai


I thought our lists were interesting.  Bug's words were new-ish words from vocabulary lists in school, and I could see what they had in common to attract him.  Good words too; I like the sound of them.  He's been obsessing about cheese recently (don't ask; I can't explain) therefore "gorgonzola."   I pick words based on their sound too.  "Papillion" has been a favorite since middle school French class.  I was told I needed a second word and "Guatemala" was the first to roll off my tongue.  I've never thought of it as a favorite before last night, but perhaps I'll keep it around.

Pook and CD had different, or at least additional reasons for their favorites.  "Zyzzyva" is the last word in the dictionary (that Pook has investigated). It means "any of various tropical American weevils of the genus zyzzyva, often destructive to plants," just in case you care.  "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" clearly was chosen for length. "Samurai" he chose for the way it sounds.

CD liked "polysyllabic" because it describes itself, "strengths" for the greatest number of consonants making for the longest one syllable word, and "humuhumunukunukuapuaa" because, well, why not?

So, share your favorite words in the comment section.  If you have a reason for liking them, share that too.

now change clothes

Day One of kiddies in the school.  I'm still a "floater" which meant that after helping with carpool I was asked to check with two particular classrooms to see if they needed help.  On my way to one of them I was snagged by a teacher of "barely 3's."    "Could I help settle this one down?"  Sure.  I made my way to Dominic, a silently sobbing boy sitting by but ignoring a table of puzzles.  Half an hour later he was still not talking but he was calming. (His caretaker had said parting words in Spanish and he had not yet been heard to speak either language, but it was believed that he spoke both.) 

Then the fire alarm went off.  Seeing as no one had known about it being a drill, it was taken seriously. The nursery tossed three to a crib and rolled the cribs out the doors. Toddlers everywhere were crying.   (Did I mention it was raining?)  I carried Dominic outside and then discovered he wasn't about to let me put him down.  He simply wiped his snot on my shoulder and continued his sobbing outside in the rain.

Once back in the room, he gently pushed away some attempts from other kids to interact and sat firmly on my lap, still with the silent sobs.  The rain turned to light sprinkles and the class decided to check out the playground.  The little guy explored a bit but then clung to the fence separating the carpool area from the playground. 

This was the same classroom in which I will substitute while the other support teacher is getting married, so I was trying to watch her tot too, so I could get a feel for his needs.  Mac has cerebral palsy and does not yet walk independently, so she'd been carrying him outside.  When Dominic was exploring, she asked if I'd hold Mac while she took a quick potty break herself.  He immediately started to cry, then gagged on his own mucus and threw up on my (other) shoulder. Seems he'd bonded pretty quickly!

I stayed with this group most of the day.  When I caught Dominic calm and interacting after snack time, I decided to take my own potty break.  On my return he was still calm and playing, so I kept out of his sight, then left the room to check on my original destination.

While that classroom needed all the help it could get (one child needing the support teacher 100% of her time and a second charge needing about 60% more of her attention) no one in that room rubbed either snot or puke on me.  I spent the remaining half hour of the day with them and will probably return to help them out on Thursday too.

Bodily fluids aside, I enjoyed my day a good deal.  I'll clearly be getting to know both rooms and all the kids.  No sign of a charge of my own yet.

inventions

This first invention of mine is one I thought of years ago.  And I'm not even a shower singer.

• The shower Karaoke machine:  Adjust the non-fogging screen to accommodate your lack of glasses and enjoy the acoustics of your shower while you sing along to your high school favorites.

These next two are feasible. My friend vb and I have discussed some of the "inventions" for which technology exists already.

• The meet-up GPS:  Set the destination of your cell phone's GPS to the phone number of your friend's cell phone, then let the two phones help you meet halfway between your current locations, taking into consideration any detours or stops either of you may make.

• The flexible answering service: Set your phone to ring not only in different locations based on your schedule (Google Voice will do this) but to not ring after 10:00pm.  Instead set it to take messages from 10:00pm to 6:00am.  Unless there are emergencies, for which the caller should be able to override this set-up.

This is the one I most want to obtain.

• The prescription screen: Adjust your computer or cell phone screen to your eyeglass prescription and put those reading glasses away.  I'll let the person who develops this one deal with my astigmatism.

No, I'm not an inventor.  If you wish to invent any of these items, feel free. I wouldn't mind a financial kickback if you make a fortune off any of them however.  And if they write your bio, you could mention me as your inspiration.

blame the Tooth Fairy

Pook is home sick.  He woke us to tell us of a sore throat, and despite a clear strep test, he's now feverish and miserable.  I blame the Tooth Fairy.

Yes, the Tooth Fairy still visits our house. As far as I can tell, we've missed the way out and will be keeping the Tooth Fairy on the payroll forever-- as well as her buddies Santa and the Easter Bunny.

While I'm pretty sure that Pook, and maybe the quite skeptical but also gullible Bug, know about these visitors, they also want to stay enmeshed in the pretend, so they won't admit that they know.  I'm not sure how to bring it up and change the routines.

I'm happy to give Santa gifts, and our routine of Christmas stockings wouldn't change, meaning that giving up Santa is really a moot point.  The Easter Bunny might still bring some candy in a basket but probably wouldn't hide eggs any more.  The Tooth Fairy, well, I'm not sure how to 'sort of' do the Tooth Fairy.  They each have six to ten more teeth to lose, then it'll be done anyway, right?

Meanwhile, I need to reinforce the need to keep one's fingers out of one's mouth.  No wiggling of teeth!  Wash your hands!  One week back in school and Pook has wiggled the first virus of the year right into his mouth.