Dad Duty

Yesterday, I got up before dawn as usual, blogged as usual, and ran into town while the day was young and I was still presentable. I had big plans for the garden and expected to be dirty most of the day.

I picked up some more wire fencing to finish deer proofing the garden, some hardware, and about $30 worth of well started Bonnie plants. My plan was to finish deer fencing and then plant the grape tomato, cowhorn pepper, big bertha pepper, heatwave tomato, husky cherry tomato, and beefsteak tomato.

By the time I got home it was so close to lunch time that I had to put my garden plans on hold and switch to chef prep mode. The menu was supposed to be wings, but with the girls home from college and a nebulous guest list for lunch, I added a few items.

Yes, my fryer side chef table IS an old piece of plywood across two sawhorses.

While my baby plants spent an hour in the shade of the oaks, I fried wings, chicken tenderloins, dill pickles, hot kosher pickles, and Greek peppers.
(Chef's note: the Greek peppers came out great, but poke 'em with a knife first and drain the juice out ... unless you enjoy being splattered with hot oil)

After a heavy mid-day meal my gardening enthusiasm took a hit, plus it was the hottest part of the day, so I stretched out on the glider bench on the front porch with both dogs pawing me for scritches.

I was just about to drift off (and I NEVER take naps) when SHE came out and started tweaking the waterfolly. "We need to clean the pond" ... I think that's what I heard her say in my fried chicken induced stupor.
The pond is cycling as new ponds do and has gone a bit green this week.
In my almost asleep state, I muttered something like, "Be patient it will clear up."

Rumor has it that I said, " If you're going to be anal about a sparkling pond, you'll drive yourself crazy."

Whatever I said, ... in a few minutes I was up and draining the green water out of the pond, capturing turtles, and refilling with fresh clear water.


Preclean green.


An hour later, the pond was clean, the sun had dropped quite a bit, a cool breeze was blowing, and the garden project was calling. I told Mrs. FC, "I'll be in the back planting and fencing if you need me, but I need to get these plants in the ground, so please don't let anybody need me for a while."

I stepped into the garden, set the camera atop my old dead truck, and was just about to gather the fencing tools I would need when I felt a presence behind me. I turned around to find Junior and buddy Jonathon.
Junior had that, "I'm about to ask you for something." grin on his face.

I said, " Look, before you say a thing, I've been waiting to work in the garden all day and I just walked out here to do that."

His grin expanded.
"We were just thinking if you took us to canoe on the Waccasassa, you could hang out in Devil's Hammock and get some sweeeeet wildlife pics while we canoe."

"You know it's after 6 pm, it's a gonna' be darkening already on the river. Might be buggy too."

"That's okay."

So, about 20 minutes later, I found myself alone in Devil's Hammock with a noisy rattling canoe trailer attached to the JEEP.

There was no way I was going to find any critters with the noisy trailer attached, so I parked it and walked down a dirt road that bisected a marshy area. The very late day sun was low and obscured by a grey haze ... not ideal photo conditions.

I walked on through the marsh with very low expectations.


Out in the marsh, I heard a soft, low grunting. I stopped walking to listen.

A herd of wild hogs were moving through the marsh, their location telegraphed by the moving cattails and duck potato plants. They were moving directly towards me, so I crouched down and waited.

The quiet grunting got closer and closer.


They emerged from the marsh and on to my road, still grunting back and forth to each other. Once they were all out of the wetland, they trundled off down the road.
I didn't pursue for more photos, because the light was really gone at this point ... besides, the boys should be heading back by now.

On the way out, I stopped and chatted with a game warden for about 15 minutes, so by the time I got to the river pickup point it was dark.

The boys were just arriving, completely wet from wrestling in the shallows.
(No sense in asking them if they saw any wildlife)

We loaded the canoe and headed home. By this time, the sun had set on my gardening plans.

So, I never planted my veggie plants yesterday, but today is a new day.

Perhaps ...