Old Man Sits on Porch, Watches Rain
My garden is in that state that has become popular to call “liminal.” Entire beds are now “closed,” except for the flowers I planted to (a) attract pollinators and (b) make my wife happy. The cucumbers, the cabbage cultivars (broccoli, cauliflower, Brussel sprouts), radishes, and beets have been either been chopped off at the roots or pulled up and tossed into the compost bin. The okra and peppers are still doing well. The eggplants too. I’ve left the tomato vines in place (most of them) because the cooler temps and increased rainfall at the end of the season should generate some nice fruit.
This year didn’t set a record for produce harvested, but it did beat the previous 2 years combined. So there’s that. The cucumbers were still producing when I ended them. I had already turned 11 lbs into bread & butter pickles. If I was going to do more, I would have to can them. And this year I just don’t have the mental/emotional bandwidth to mess with canning. Hell, if the garden hadn’t already been underway by the end of April, it might not have happened this year.
I’m already planning for next year. How I’ll rearrange plantings in the bed (like swapping okra and peppers to get better mid-summer shading for the peppers) and how I’ll change the automated watering. And deciding which plants I won’t try again (e.g., eggplants; we don’t like them enough; which is too bad since they are steady producers) and which ones I’ll do more of or try to apply what I learned this year.
I wasn’t intending to give a full garden report, so I’ll stop. But, yes, I can and will go on and on about the garden. =)
-David
Uninvited
Uninvited by David R. Michael
Heidi Sees Book #3
In most ways, Heidi Crolley is your typical remote IT worker. Single. Nerdy. Shy. Barely gets along with her mother. But she also sees ghosts. Which 100% makes the rest worse.
After nine years away, Heidi moves back to her home town of Tulsa, Oklahoma. She and Doris, her live-in ghost friend, have barely settled into their new apartment when other ghosts show up. Adjusting the thermostat. Opening the blinds. Eating diner food at her table. And refusing to leave when asked. When Heidi knocks on the door of her neighbor, Brooke, to borrow a can opener, she discovers Brooke is also haunted, by the ghost of her estranged father. And since his daughter isn’t listening, he decides to haunt Heidi.
Published by Four Crows Landing.
Available in trade paperback and ebook from Amazon and everywhere books are sold!
Tag Along
Tag Along by David R. Michael
Heidi Sees Book #2
Heidi Crolley can see ghosts. She even has one living with her—in a manner of speaking. She met teenage ghost Doris on her first trip home to Tulsa, Oklahoma, in nine years. Now she and Doris are headed back for July the 4th.
It’s supposed to be a vacation, but Doris doesn’t want to go—and won’t say why. And as soon as they arrive, Heidi’s mother insists she helps a friend haunted by the ghost of a dead husband. Her mother—finally—believes Heidi about the ghosts, but there are still lies between them, and her mother seems oblivious to the trauma she’s asking Heidi to revisit. Still, Heidi agrees to help—because her mother asked.
Published by Four Crows Landing.
Available in trade paperback and ebook from Amazon and everywhere books are sold!
Heidi Sees
Heidi Sees by David R. Michael
Heidi Sees Book #1
Heidi Crolley sees ghosts. She doesn’t know why, but it probably has something to do with her father, who died when she was eight. Her mother never believed her, which is 100% why Heidi lives half a continent away.
After a childhood of emotional trauma, Heidi has created a quiet life where she can avoid the most demanding of the local ghosts—and any contact with her mother. But on a Sunday afternoon in May, Heidi discovers there is one ghost that can make her go home again.
Published by Four Crows Landing.
Available in trade paperback and ebook from Amazon and everywhere books are sold!