Stace's Mail

A rather benign weekend here at the Northfield Rambler - which quite frankly, is really, really welcomed. Cleaned out the garage - I like to slip various items of Kevin's into the trash bin when he isn't looking - oh come on, it's no big deal - he rifles through it later anyway 'cause it would be "wrong" to actually throw anything away.

Hmm, what else... Kevin planted roughly 50 tulip bulbs on Saturday, which took awhile as it is imperative that he find just the right spot for each and every tulip (and here's the thing - each one will be perfectly placed...). Since then, however, he has become utterly obsessed with the squirrels, and literally runs outside to scare them away whenever he sees them digging (which they do a lot of this time of year).

I sat on the sofa this morning giggling as I watched him whiz past me and out the front door, run to the pine tree and inspect the garden around it, then stare up the branches. Then, he runs directly to our other tree in the front yard, patting the ground, looking up...

So, I hope for his sake we are surrounded by beautiful tulips in the spring.

All of this ruckus quickly - too quickly, I feel - led to the discussion of "what to do" about the squirrels. And yes, it was mentioned that they meet their untimely deaths by Kevin's hands. While I know this is not something he would actually do, I had to put my foot down - we will not become the crazy neighbors of Northfield. While Kevin was explaining his next best plan of building duck decoys that will be strategically placed in my garden, among other places, and will be built to sway in the wind - because apparently squirrels are afraid of ducks (?) - the sad reality hit me: we already are the crazy neighbors of Northfield.

Other News:
Yesterday afternoon Kevin was going through the mail and read the title of a pamphlet I received for an upcoming workshop. "Hmm, 'Accompanying the Dying'" he mutters, "You get the best mail." Laughing, we realized that our postman must think, "That Mr. Klempnauer sure is a nice guy, but boy, his wife is a mess," as he delivers a continuous flow of pamphlets entitled "The Meth Epidemic", "Coping with Self Harm", "Boundaries - and the People Who Need Them".

Makes me think though, "accompanying the dying" - how far am I supposed to accompany them anyway? I think setting a boundary is in order - it's a good thing I went to that workshop...

Speaking of mail and death - Kevin gets mail regarding cemetery landscaping. Really. Who knew this was a specialty? Landscaping is landscaping, I thought. But apparently the person who lived here before us was a grounds keeper at Oaklawn Cemetery and so we continue to receive his mail and catelogs. Yes, catalogs specifically for cemetery landscapes. Kevin loves them, reads them cover to cover.