Busy day, not done yet

I've had a busy day, starting with bidding good-bye to some relatives of The Man, who spent the night last night. Got a little "grandkid" fix from playing with Eric and Anne's little girls, but Hannah, Simon and Seth don't have to worry, they are still first in my heart :)

Then, I took a walk and shot these photos in the south pasture, just across the creek. I was so taken with the golden heads of the grasses, it looked like they'd been frosted.

Then, home to garden a bit - I've put snapdragons at the entrance to the lane, and they'll keep producing if they are dead-headed every couple of days, and a garden just takes some work every day. I ran into town for supplies to make salsa. We are awash in tomatoes, even though we have versillium wilt (a tomato disease that comes from the soil, or comes in with the tomatoes.) A neighbor has it, too, and the extension service says it is particularly bad this year. In any event, the poor tomatoes look like hell, and they aren't producing great; but The Man has friends ... with tomatoes.

But, since I'm in a poetry class, I offer this poem:

The Tyranny of the Tomato

"Do you want some tomatoes?"

The Man asks me.

"Sure" I foolishly reply.

That evening, he returns

Armed with four grocery bags full;

Tomatoes are free from a friend.

They won't last.

To town I go for all I need for salsa -

Jalapenos, onions, habanero peppers, green chilies. $20.

But the tomatoes are free.

A day spent -

Washing, cutting, cooking tomatoes;

Roasting, peeling, seeding peppers;

Boiling canning water.

Electricity, water, jars, lids, bands -

Not studying.

But the tomatoes are free.