Friday, July 2, 2010

Garden in grass and normal neighbors.

The people next door have put in a garden. The always green acre has been just grass for almost two decades. As far as I can tell there has never been a garden there.

One Saturday in March they off loaded a small tractor and disk. I've seen farm equipment of all kinds. I grew up on a farm in Indiana. This was like the full size disks but smaller. I hadn't seen a plow and since the area they were cultivating had been fully sodded with fescue, I have to believe the plow had done its work before I started watching the area.

A man was on the tractor and a woman stood to the side drinking from a plastic cup through a straw. I had no doubt he was doing her bidding in making the garden. I watched as she walked to the edge of their property at the edge of mine and dumped the contents of her cup on my side. I immediately thought of how good produce from their garden would be later in the summer.
This garden is on a commercial lot and my property is where my business operates. I'm there a lot though; much more than they are.

The mail man stopped by the other morning. He is a nice guy and always has a moment to chat when he sees me. Last week he had been on vacation and the mail man who delivered before he was the regular guy had been the mail man for about 10 years. He moved to another route last fall and said he was retiring soon and would fill in for vacations till then.

I told the regular guy about the vacation sub had been a former regular and that he'd asked about getting cake samples. I explained that I enter cakes in the Kentucky State Fair and make some for my church carnival for practice, as well as for the business next door and in previous year's the mail man. He smiled.

"You wouldn’t be willing take a practice cake, would you?" I asked.

"Well I don't need to eat cake but that would be great."

"You could take it home to share with your family, you know," I said.

"Sure, that's a good idea," He said.

"What do you think; pineapple upside down cake or red velvet?" I asked.

"Surprise me," He said with a grin.
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The announcement earlier this week that eleven people living and working in America are spies for Russia was greeted by chuckles for the most part. The statement by the President was not adversarial and Putin said he didn't think the people were Russian. Of course the FBI has been listening in on their phones, watching them move about, hacking their computers and putting bugs in anything they own for years. I have no doubt they are spies. I've always believed that the best spy would not be a James Bond type, but someone who blended in and didn't look or act like a spy novel character.

Another former CIA man said there were probably 50 such couples living quietly, doing the same kind of social networking to learn about and influence what we do, politically.

So now instead of seeing Islamic terrorists in every cab or bodega, we will be suspecting that nice couple at your kid's school, just because they "sound foreign" or act normal.

25 comments:

  1. I got stuck on the fact that your neighbor made an effort to dump the contents of her cup on your side! Does she send her dog over to poop there, too?

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  2. :: chuckle ::

    I'm sure she had no idea I was in my office working on a Saturday! The idea of what people do when they believe they are alone is a fasinating think. I don't think she was tossing any toxic liquid but I find it odd and deserving of some nice ripe tomatoes and melon.

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  3. Some neighbors are just weirdos. I hope you sneak over in the dead of night and get a few tomatoes or *something*! Hee hee!

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  4. we have an old gent who's intentions are good but is a pain in the ass..the other day babs had bought 4 12-packs of dr pepper and we're carrying them back to her apt. one in each hand plus our purses, etc. he stand in the door way with his arms blocking us(thinking that would be funny) demanding the password...I said 'get the fuck out of the way or I'm running your ass over.'.....worked..good fences make good neighbors.

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  5. Evil Twin's Wife: hehehe... I'll cruise by after Mass one Sunday!

    YELLOWDOG GRANNY: I like your password!

    Kerrie: Sure. Gimme a call so I can get it baked and ready. They come over and pick it up!

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  6. The few neighbors that I do have pretty much leave me alone ... they've heard me walking around talking to myself too many times I think. Maybe you need a few strange creatures hanging close to your property line to create that extra doubt in their mind.

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  7. Spies... it's been going on forever... and will continue to do so! I have to admit that I was shocked by Obama's naivety when he campaigned that simply by getting out there and talking with the terrorists... and the Russians... and the Iranians, and (insert your group here), that he could make ALL of these troubles go away...

    Poor guy... Learning curves are Hell...

    Pine Apple upside down cake?? Damn... is there a mailing list?? :oD

    ~shoes~

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  8. Keith: I can't maintain my weird long enough to be a threat to anyone!

    Red Shoes: I think our President is taking the advice of a previous President; speak softly, etc.

    Red Shoes: I'm happy to put your name on a list, but it's not a shipping list. It's an, if you want one, warn me and pick it up, list.

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  9. were you flirting with the postman?? :)

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  10. I'm wondering if u could send me a a practice red velvet cake with cream cheese filling. I was once a judge of Arkasas wild onion cook off...I could be helpful...just a suggestion.

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  11. Lady Pants: I don't think I was flirting. My husband though used to tease me about guys flirting and I was clueless.

    Just telling: I appreciate the kind offer to evaluate my cake. I'm not sure how I could ship a whole cake and it arrive whole.

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  12. Now what secrets could they possibly pass on? That half the working age population can't find a job?

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  13. Oh, I DEFINITELY would've picked red velvet cake!!! Lucky mailman!!

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  14. OK,
    I want a Pineapple Upside Down Cake, and maybe just a piece of Red Velvet Cake.

    I'd be willing to do a spy check for one ;-)

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  15. I'll be sure and share pictures and the recipes.

    I appreciate ya'all want samples, but that seems impossible.

    and Mac, what is the "spy check" you refer to?

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  16. Well, the CIA man said some 50 plus couple were operating in this country.
    For some of your cake, I'd run a check to make sure none of those 50 were operating near your home...they might be after your cake recipes !!

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  17. plant some pot in the neighbors garden and once fully grown mention to the post man that you think they are Russian spies doing experiments on marijuana to subvert the nations youth.

    or make special cakes....

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  18. mac: I understand it now. If there are nearby spies I'm not concerned. There is nothing they'd want from me.

    DOG3OY: Naaa, I don't enjoy creating drama.

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  19. i would think russia has their best spies in chechnya these days.

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  20. You are far more sage than I - me? I'd have been compelled to take her discarded cup over to her, to say I'd found something that she may have "lost"? But in truth, some things are better let go.

    If I lived more local, I would be begging for a test cake..!

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  21. No begging. Sometimes I have to beg to get rid of them.

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  22. Hey Charlene, I'd actually prefer Russian spies to some of the neighbors I have.
    I'm in a very rural area, and some of these folks have not grasped the concept of putting litter in trash containers.
    I've considered flagging them down and hitting them with a stun-gun, but I'm not sure how that might play out in court.
    "I'm sorry judge, they threw litter out in front of my house and I just SNAPPED!!!"

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  23. People in the city don't know what to do with their trash either. The driveway at work is on a busy road to General Electric appliance park. There is always trash along the road. Last week someone tossed a Gatorade bottle, half full, into the parking lot 6 feet from an open dumpster. Maybe they were playing hoops?

    My next door business neighbor, who is in and out of his location 24/7, says he sees police parked on the lot and at the driveway entrance. He's confinced it's them leaving the trash.

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  24. thanks for visiting me and commenting! i also got stuck on the woman tossing the drink on your side. last night i saw a show for the first time called "what would you do?" sort of along that line. someone was getting gasoline and went inside the convenience store while the gas was pumping and someone else grabbed it and filled their car and then put it back. to see what people would do. interesting.

    smiles, bee
    xoxoxoxoxoxo

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