When is Enough, Enough?

I made an early trip down to my raised bed garden this morning. It is a small garden by most accounts. But I planted two more rows of Ky. Wonder green beans. This is a better spot as there are in place fences for them to climb. Before watering them in , I picked from the present vines and probably got about a pound. I like the taste of these but the Blue Lake I had last year I liked also. It is hard to describe the difference in taste, but these seem to have more "body".

When I came back to the house I removed my hat and looked it over. Sure enough there was a pesky tick. I sent it down the drain and removed my clothes and looked them over. There was another one on my pants. Good-bye to him also. I had sprayed my clothes with Cutter Off and felt protected, but those little biters will just fall out of nowhere.

Dealing with the ticks and other garden problems made me begin to question the wisdom of continuing this hobby. We are in a hot weather pattern right now in Georgia and people my age are trying to avoid the heat. I only go out early in the day or late in the evening, and never more than an hour. I do not know what will convince me to stop gardening. It is so very pleasant to have very fresh vegetables that I keep deferring a decision.

I do not want to emulate my mother's brother, uncle Joe Gamp. I probably met him as a very young child but I cannot remember if I did. I did see his photograph. He "sat for a portrait" and was dressed for the period, early 1900's. I thought him a handsome man. I think he had blue eyes. I have been told that he was jovial and enjoyed having a good time. Perhaps his job caused him to look on the bright side of life whenever possible. You see, he worked at a foundry and made handles for caskets. I remember seeing one once, it was silver and very shiny.

But my uncle Joe liked to garden, even in his later years. His garden was in his back yard. One day his neighbors noticed that they had not seen him all day. . They looked in his garden and found him with his hoe, on the ground where they both had fallen. He probably had a stroke or perhaps a heart attack. With no way to call for help he died there in his corn field.

Uncle Joe managed to avoid tuberculosis when it was rampant in his family. In fact, so did my mother. She slept in the same bed with her sister Emma. She nursed her until she died of this dreaded disease. She told me what it was like to have this disease all around her. It was not pleasant. Tuberculosis was common in the early 1900's. My father was sent out to Nebraska where the climate was supposed to be more favorable for his tuberculosis. He and my mother both had scars on their lungs from this disease. Perhaps uncle Joe was not exposed to it often or had a strong resistance to it. He also may have left home by this time .
At any rate, it is a shame that he had to give up gardening in such a rude and abrupt way.

There are many other pleasant pursuits available to me so I really do not have to follow his example. It is just the deciding that is difficult. I think I am ready to give it up around this time of year. But when spring rolls around and I am feeling peppy, it is another matter. I usually have no problem in making decisions. In SOME cases I tend to think about things a lot before deciding. I guess this is just one of those cases.