Things I love at my house: The Backyard

 

Time Passing

The summer is flying by. Where does it go? My days are lost in painting and it seems most nights I end up with something going on. Cooking with Kelly, international cuisine experimentation with Hodges, Liz and Adam, Joel and Rachelle, Gary and all the rest. (Indian food was quite the success, more on that later) then theres the dancing....

I started dance lessons a few weeks ago. Berrett, Casie, Nathan Clinebelle, Heather Parsons, Brianne, Dylan, the Gentry's (all but Dr. Gentry who refuses to dance) and more. So far we have covered the Foxtrot and Rumba quite thoroughly. Tuesday nights just got so much more exciting.

In other news, my house flooded. really. sort of. This past Saturday a bunch of friends came over for indian food, (Chicken Moghul, Basmati Rice, and Naan)leaving the house still smelling of cardamom, garlic and bay leaves. After cooking the main dish (Its a group function) we began to finish up the Naan. It was about this time that the rain began to fall. (dramatic pause inserted here.) Mac, down from charlotte for the weekend had apparently run out to his car for some reason. Trying to assess whether his car was still out in the driveway or not, I opened the front door for a peak.

Now for those unfamiliar with my house, let me explain the walk way. From the gravel drive to the front patio is a sloping gravel path that ends in a small cement brick patio. The drive is coming down a hill where situated atop is the ol' family home of Mrs. Harrell, whose house I am renting. Now when we have a deluge such as the one on Saturday water tends to puddle right in front of the door. By puddle I of course mean a lake forms that swallows the bottom 3 feet of my walk.

Back to me opening the door. Turning the knob without a second thought and assured of dry earth by rainbows seen all my life, I opened the door and water immediately came into the house, spilling over the stoop and seeping across the carpet. I slammed the door shut, called for some towels and after seeing that the door was being properly stuffed with dry cloth, I grabbed my five way (a painters best friend which he should always have handy) and headed out to do my best.

The water seemed to instantly soak my shirt paints and hair. I leapt barefoot fromt he back door to the front over gardenias and azaleas to be greeted by a quickly growing body of water. I think Ill here after refer to it as Loch Harrell. Five way in hand and water running down my face in sheets I set to work digging drenches to let the water drain. Joel Eaton and Adam Talbot soon joined me, half naked and barefoot (Half clothed and unshoed?) and we set to work on clearing the water. After maybe fifteen minutes or so in the soaking rain we managed to divert the flow of water away from the porch and clear off enough water to be sure that it wasn't going to build up any more. Wet and manly in our water diverting abilities we re entered the back door victorious and just in time for the last few pieces of Naan to be finished. Dinner was a quite delicious.

I went with Mac to Mrs. Harrells house this afternoon to talk to her about what had just happened. It went over well and her and her handyman Jerry are going to look after it in the morning as well as a few other things....

Joel just brought his drumset down from New Hampshire, it was a ruckus filled afternoon as we just jammed for several hours beating out some blues and rock. One of my favorite afternoons this summer. It felt good to just crank up and jam.

Well thats all for today, I leave you with a thought from Eugene Peterson-

The Secularized mind is terrorized by mysteries, thus it makes lists, labels people, assigns roles, and solves problems. But a solved life is a reduced life...l