TheBanyanTree: A Rainy Weekend in Minnesota

[Margaret R. Kramer]

Our week started off cool and then gradually warmed up to the low 70s before
the much needed rain moved in yesterday.  The leaves are coming out on the
trees and our skyline is edged in green again.  I’ve moved from the land of
oak and maples, so I don’t know the names of the trees in my new
neighborhood.  There is a tree which has some small flowers and the sweetest
smell reaches my nose as Axel and I pass underneath it.  There are trees
around me which drop banana shaped things on the ground.  I don’t know what
kind of trees they are either.  I’ve only moved a few miles away, but it’s
like I moved to a different land.

We had 10 oak trees in our old backyard.  Our new backyard has one big tree
and that’s all we seem to need.  I’ve been watching the sun patterns and
even though the backyard faces east and we get that wonderful morning sun,
it does get shade as the day goes on, and by late afternoon, the yard is
spackled with light and dark patches.

The previous owner built a HUGE planting area in the back of the yard.  I’m
not sure what to plant there this year.  Vegetables?  Flowers?  A
combination?  I’ll definitely plant tomatoes.  That’s a Minnesota tradition.
But the rest of the yard is just grass except some lilac trees filling their
role as a privacy hedge between the house next door and ours.  Our yard is a
blank slate waiting for a drawing.  We’ll probably just make a sketch this
year and begin filling in the color as the years go by.

Ray finished building his work area in the garage and has all the stuff
unpacked and put away.  It’s wonderful to go out to the garage and actually
find the things I’m looking for.  I’m not sure what we’ll do with the second
floor of the garage.  I haven’t been up there yet, but Ray says it’s
carpeted.  I wonder if the previous owner was planning to make it an office
or something, or maybe just a “get-away” room.  It’s another place for us
ponder.

It’s going to rain all weekend and that’s OK.  Ray began working on
assembling his office.  We’ll probably go to the plant store and the
hardware store to buy a few things.  I’m going to look for a place to begin
tanning, because I’m sick of my lily white skin.  I have a few projects to
do and I might even begin working on my Southern Caribbean cruise scrapbook
again.  I have all my scrapbooking stuff set up in the basement ready to go.

We had our house cleaned for the first time on Monday.  Boy, those Merry
Maids did an excellent job of scrubbing out the dirt and grunge.  The house
was shining when I got home from work.  As long as we can afford it, we will
have someone clean our house.  It is worth every penny.  I think it helps us
keep our house better organized and also we’re not spending weekends
cleaning, endlessly cleaning.

We don’t have a fireplace in this house and I kind of miss it when the
evenings and cool and gloomy like tonight will be, but our living room is
small and cozy and no longer a useless room where no one goes except for
Christmas.  I’m looking forward to settling in tonight and watching the
Twins lose another game while curled up with a good book, Axel wrapped
around my feet, and Ray sitting by my side.  How much better can a rainy
night get?

Margaret R. Kramer
margaretkramer at comcast.net

http://www.bpwmn.org
Business and Professional Women of Minnesota

In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt.
~Margaret Atwood