Almost

We are almost to the election. This will be a long 2 1/2 weeks. I worry about some last minute news story, claim, or projection -- real or fabricated -- that might alter the trajectory of events. This is the first time I have felt truly optimistic about our political prospects since the year 2000. Little did we know that we would be misruled by brigands for 8, long years. This terrible national mistake is almost over. The healing process is almost ready to start. America may once again take her well-earned place at the forefront of civilized nations. Almost. Almost.

We have almost got the yard in shape for winter. If the weather holds, until Halloween, we'll manage nicely.

Today I completed breaking up the soil and removing the largest rocks in 3/4 of the first section of the main garden. Angel worked a good mulch / compost mixture into the sifted soil. This is heavy work. If I could do this much each day for the next four days, we would have the first section of the garden prepped. This is probably not a reasonable goal, but it is almost a reasonable goal.

One of our neighbors, Nancy, gave Angel some root stock for five, shade-loving plants. We got these in the ground today too. This is not nearly enough to constitute a landscape -- or even a landscape plan, but it is almost a good start for some of the places snuggled against the north side of the house.

The rocky soil -- glacial till, I have heard it called -- is beginning to yield to our efforts. We are beginning to see the incredible number of rocks as a resource. We have almost enough piled up from the main vegetable garden preparation to make a beautiful private garden space. I am beginning to visualize this private space on the east side of my office. It may well be fenced off from the rest of the property. This will keep deer out and will allow for privacy... a special, spiritual sanctuary. We may use the small rocks in a gravel path. We may use the larger rocks in a wall. There are almost too many options from which to decide, and this project will of course have to wait for a time when we have basic, remedial and preparatory work done.

I have almost resigned myself to my lack of employment prospects. I continue to pursue opportunities, real and chimeric, but I am slightly less frantic. I am slightly less distraught with our circumstances. It is possible that Angel's work could turn into something that could almost support us. Then the pathetic contributions through my work at PTAC might almost be enough. All we need is something like steady state expenses covered. We continue to reduce our expenses. I hope to learn to do more and more for us so that our expenses continue to drop. It is not a plan, but almost an idea for a plan.

Almost.

Almost.