Recently, I've gotten in the habit of taking two little boys out on the weekends. They're nine years old, twins, and have autism. One speaks quite well and doesn't move very fast. The other speaks very little but moves like the wind, and is actually smarter than the average kid, as far as I can tell. He can outwit me, anyway, whereas I can outwit the "neurotypical" kids.
This morning, I took the fast one to watch minor hockey, because he likes it, and left the other one at home, because he doesn't. So we hung out for about two hours, ending up at the hardware store. Taking him to any store is a challenge because he will disappear, or climb up the shelves, or put something in his pocket, or who knows what else; but he was really good all morning and listening to me, so I decided to take him anyway.
Everything was going well as I followed him around the store, just watching that he didn't put something in his pocket... and then he went into the garden section, mostly by mistake, and there I saw...
SEED RACKS!!!!
The seeds are here! The seeds are here! Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
I was so excited, I just about walked away from the boy to go look at them. Which might not have been a disaster, because he's actually a pretty good kid, but the whole point of me taking him out is that I'm fast enough and focused enough to keep an eye on him, thus making it possible for him to act natural instead of being constantly restrained or in trouble. So if I'm going to wander away from him, that rather defeats the purpose of me spending time with him.
So, we left the store with one toy for him and none for me.
Then I went home, had a nap, went to the library, and then I walked back to the hardware store and bought some seeds. Autistic kids and I have this in common that we don't give up easily.
Thus the first seeds of 2012, not counting the few I got by mail late last year, are pansies (Swiss giants mix) and... Atlantic Giant pumpkin. Had I stuck to catalogue orders, I might never have ordered Atlantic Giant, but unlike all previous years, the OSC display at the store had some. So now I have some.
Now the question is, what do I do with them? By my calculations, they need to be seeded around 1 April. That's... seven weeks from today. Seven weeks! Woe! I don't want to wait seven weeks!
I think I need to get another one of those nice deep planters like I have for Za 7, and plant one pumpkin seed now, and the rest later. Or maybe get eight nice deep planters, and plant one pumpkin seed a week from now until 1 April, and see what works best.
And this is how my gardening expenses grow into the hundreds of dollars, "just two bucks" at a time.
This morning, I took the fast one to watch minor hockey, because he likes it, and left the other one at home, because he doesn't. So we hung out for about two hours, ending up at the hardware store. Taking him to any store is a challenge because he will disappear, or climb up the shelves, or put something in his pocket, or who knows what else; but he was really good all morning and listening to me, so I decided to take him anyway.
Everything was going well as I followed him around the store, just watching that he didn't put something in his pocket... and then he went into the garden section, mostly by mistake, and there I saw...
SEED RACKS!!!!
The seeds are here! The seeds are here! Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
I was so excited, I just about walked away from the boy to go look at them. Which might not have been a disaster, because he's actually a pretty good kid, but the whole point of me taking him out is that I'm fast enough and focused enough to keep an eye on him, thus making it possible for him to act natural instead of being constantly restrained or in trouble. So if I'm going to wander away from him, that rather defeats the purpose of me spending time with him.
So, we left the store with one toy for him and none for me.
Then I went home, had a nap, went to the library, and then I walked back to the hardware store and bought some seeds. Autistic kids and I have this in common that we don't give up easily.
Thus the first seeds of 2012, not counting the few I got by mail late last year, are pansies (Swiss giants mix) and... Atlantic Giant pumpkin. Had I stuck to catalogue orders, I might never have ordered Atlantic Giant, but unlike all previous years, the OSC display at the store had some. So now I have some.
Now the question is, what do I do with them? By my calculations, they need to be seeded around 1 April. That's... seven weeks from today. Seven weeks! Woe! I don't want to wait seven weeks!
I think I need to get another one of those nice deep planters like I have for Za 7, and plant one pumpkin seed now, and the rest later. Or maybe get eight nice deep planters, and plant one pumpkin seed a week from now until 1 April, and see what works best.
And this is how my gardening expenses grow into the hundreds of dollars, "just two bucks" at a time.
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