heliotropism

gardening this year has made me much more attentive to the sun. i never studied it before, except to notice its intensity/color cast/angle/etc at a given time on a given day...i never watched the way sunlight rolls across the yard, shadows extend and contract, the angle evolves over time, all those patterns and particulars that take more than a few moments to observe. i’ve been aware of the best types of light and the best hours of the day to take pictures, but this new heightened photo-sensitivity will help my photography in a more detailed way, i think.

this weekend i planted my first seven tomato plants: two white currants, two paul robesons and three mysteries. one of the mysteries is what i’ve been calling “basket tomato,” because it sprouted out of a basket of lettuce i grew in march. at the time i hadn’t even opened any of my tomato seed packets, so i don’t think it will be one of the varieties i bought. no clue what it could be but i’m loving the suspense. it’s the biggest plant since it’s been growing the longest, and there are two sets of buds at the top already. most of the other large tomato plants have one set of buds at the top...flowers should pop any day now.

i also planted four cucumber plants, some dill and basil, and four big patches of bush beans: blue lake, yellow wax, royal burgundy, and i even found room for some garbanzos. up are the potatoes, corn, wheat, romanesco broccoli, a second row of carrots, some sunflowers, some beans/peas and cosmos. sugar snap and snow peas are flowering--they’re getting tall so i rigged up a new support system:

eventually they’ll grow above the short lattice fence and i’ll extend strings from the top of the fence to the bottom of the lattice that borders the patio ceiling, so they can just grow like crazy.

i started working for my mom today...a two-week temp position as office assistant, to fill the gap while the new assistant is moving here from another state. she made it sound like the job would be fast-paced and stressful but it’s not, at least so far. all i did today was process a bunch of credit cards, answer phones, greet people who walked in, and a bit of filing. it gave me lots of free time to read a chapbook of poetry written by students at a local high school for pregnant girls. jaw-dropping poetry. incredibly, consistently good, better than any high school student poetry i’ve ever read, better than any of my own poetry, better than a vast majority of the college student poetry i’ve read...and i’ve read a fucking lot. it’s awesome to see these high school kids out-writing adult english majors. we’re all so full of shit comparatively.

i received a summons for jury duty at the end of june. i don’t know what to expect--it’s treated almost universally as an annoyance at best, and i’ve heard it’s utterly boring, but i’m approaching it with the attitude that it’s a fun new experience with plenty of entertainment potential. without even perjuring i could pour out eighty gallons of crazy and get rejected straight off, but i think i’ll actually try to get picked for a jury, because what the hell, you know? maybe i’m deluded by the pauly shore movie. this is probably not going to be as cool as i’m imagining.