Ritual summer

Memorial Day weekend is the unofficial start of summer and the appropriate time to:

1. Plant tomatoes (Rutgers, Beefmaster, and something called Mr. Stripey!) and eggplant (Ichiban).
2. Drink the first gin and tonic of the season.
3. Wear white - in my case, khakis, shorts, and a Stanley Kowalski undershirt.
4. Proof bread dough in the afternoon sun on the brick patio.
5. Raise the multi-colored beach umbrella (bought on clearance in Carolina Beach) on the patio table.
6. Eat three meals a day outside.
7. Wear sandals without socks.
8. Switch to boxer shorts under my jeans.
9. Start worrying about whether plants are getting enough water, instead of worrying about whether plants are getting enough light.
10. Go to a Goodbye, Columbus party for friends who are moving to Bellingham, Washington, next week. Long story short: Steve and Kathy took a trip to Oregon a few years ago to visit her daughter in Portland, went sightseeing in Eugene, Seattle, Vancouver, all the cool places, and found Bellingham to their liking. She asked him, "Would you rather die here or in Ohio?" They took out a home equity loan, bought a house, and rented it out for three years while they played out their jobs and other commitments in central Swingstate. Now they're beginning a new adventure in the great northwest.
11. Witness the first germinating bean seeds, saved from last year's meagre crop, sprouting up out of the ground in their distinctive beanie way, like a big head on a thin spine straightening up from a deep fetal crouch. By next week they could be reaching their tendrils out to twine around the tripod of poles and start climbing. FEE-FI-FO-FUM!
12. Go to a neighborhood pot-luck on Julie's deck with our Methodistville friends, who appreciate good food, good books, and gardening. We mostly talked about TV and politics, but I went home with four little envelopes of different kinds of sunflower seeds to plant in some sunny spot in the back yard of Om Shanty.
13. Clean out the garage/storage/workshop and take a few things to the thrift store; move a few boxes of memorabilia to the other garage, and hang some bookshelves, a small step toward converting storage space into living space. The trip down memory lane that is unpacking boxes of books and arranging them on shelves will have to wait until another weekend, but hey, the Fourth of July is right around the corner!