Epicure

Epicure- fr.epicurus ( medieval Latin) One whose chief happiness is in carnal pleasure.

The Oxford dictionary of English Etymology.

A long time ago, I used to hang out with an Athenian philosopher, Epikouros. 

Yesterday we took a road trip to Lacrosse.  Jorge's driving his SUV which is worth more than our converted schoolhouse.  Secretly I pretend I'm being chauffeured. On the nearside of 70 years old, he drives like a cop on patrol-slow and even. In front of us, a pickup piled high above the sides with feed sacks is cruising at 45 mph on Highway 33 coming from the farm supply warehouse in Cashton.. 

He hits the gas pedal and my head jerks back from the G force.

"Even I can't drive that slow," he says.

He punches a button on his dashboard labeled info. I ask whatissit? 

"Gives me information about the trip-mileage, amount of fuel, gas mileage and chances of scoring if the passenger in the front seat is female."

Last week my driver attended Grady's funeral.  Grady is the person about which Jorge's uncle is reputed to have said,

"Keep f***ing with him, you'll learn."

It's a mantra we repeat frequently when confronted with dipsticks and dweebs.

Riding shotgun, if you asked Grady if the traffic from the right was clear, he'd respond, "Yeah."

That's when you'll notice a semi bearing down on you as you pull out in traffic.

"I thought you said it was clear, Grady?" 

"What do I know," is his response.

The end of any Grady phone call is always "I'll holler."

"What?"  I ask.

"Some kind of southern expression," Jorge says.

Although he drives a flex-fuel SUV that gets 19 mpg tops, Jorge comments that the morning's news reports indicate car makers are still producing SUV's despite high fuel prices . "What's wrong with those people?"

My response,

"75 % of the American people believe in angels and after the Japanese nuclear fiasco, a Gallup poll reports that the per cent of people worried about global nuclear contamination increased by a mere 2%." 

And so it goes...

My mission in Lacrosse is to purchase garden supplies for my wife.  In an effort to improve the quality of life for seniors at the assisted living center, Dawn started with raised bed gardens, table top gardens , upside down tomato containers and this year's project a "lasagna"  garden.  A garden specialist, the president of the local garden club, the Vernon Broadcaster and other news media will be there. She describes her success and the frustration of working with the elderly.  One woman sits enchanted in the dining room watching as a squirrel systematically chews every new green bean plant down to a nub.  Earl, the self appointed garden supervisor, takes a hand weeder to a plot destroying a near by seed bed.  On weekends when she's not around, the gardens suffer.

At Farm and Fleet I find the inexpensive soil test kit I need. Two previous kits I bought hide worn out chemicals in the test capsules and a filter contraption that plugs and break with the first use   The Ph on the potato garden is a smidgen higher than 7.0, therefore, I need to bring it down a point.  I sow 320 feet of yellow onions in two plots. My projected planting time was 2 days after the full moon.  Weather conditions take precedent over moon signs.  Thursday's rain and threat of snow is highlighted with a cold front and 36 degrees mid-day. I light a fire in the wood stove last night.