...: Marsh Chatter
"Quiet" Summer of 2011
This was a memorable summer - however, most of these kinds of memories are not the ones you want!
The Summer of 2011 started in a sad way. Moved into a tough weather year - rain/cold early, then 50+ days of > high 80F heat (with high humidity) - many of those days > 90F - with quite a few triple-digits. Then more family had bad things happen... what a summer!
Due to everything going on - the Marsh has been a very quiet place. Even my time on Twitter has significantly dropped off. Participating in 'community' is fairly tough when so much is going on close in, that some activities just have to be put aside for a bit o' time.
Garden
Even in those high heat days - we were graced with rain - some significant. Due to the fairly consistent sky watering... this year I did very little watering myself - maybe 3-5 times over the course of about 90 days... completely not normal - as I usually have to water 2-3 times a week in the high heat days of July/August. Because of all the other things happening, it was a good thing I didn't need to water, because it might not have gotten done and then the harvest would have really gone to ...
The Harvest was what I would consider 'average' - I suspect the plants were affected by the continuous heat. Although Tomatoes and Peppers like heat - they seem to not like temps near triple-digits - so growth was stunted, until they rebounded significantly during late August/early September - but that's really too late. The peppers were noticeably short up until September, then jumped in height and production through September - but not the big bells we are use to getting. We might be in for some soil analysis next Spring...
Mom-in-Law
In early August, my wife's mother had a stroke and 'survived' without needing pressure release surgery. She went to hospital rehab and then moved in with us, now going on about 35 days. If you've ever been a caretaker - you know how big a struggle this is. We borrowed a baby monitor from a friend - which made sleeping very difficult those first days until the medical professionals had her sleep under control. Having an elderly parent wandering around at night in unfamiliar surroundings can be dangerous for them.
She has made remarkable progress and we will be taking her back home next week. Her other children have made arrangements to continue this early care & progress in her own home. This is a very positive move for her and she is excited! Yesterday was her 83rd birthday and everyone is really glad she was able to celebrate another significant mile-marker in life. We talked about folks who turned 100 years old the same day... and said, she has 17 years to go to meet that... given her progress - it might very well be possible.
Extended Family
Over Labor Day weekend an extended family member was involved in a high-speed broadside collision. Remarkably she survived and no one in the other vehicle was hurt. She has a long and significant recovery period. Damage was/is extensive but she is healing. Her immediate family has rallied around her and are in full control of her immediate future.
Hoping for a better end to a 2011 for everyone, and a great 2012.
"Instants Happen!"
So much can change in such a small time...
The changes can be completely out of your control...
Be sure you take care of your family!