Category: Blog

A Garden Update: I Planted Garlic

Blog, Garden

I essentially “closed” my garden back in August because most of it was almost literal *toast* by that point. There were 30-plus days of 100º heat starting in early July. As much as I watered, I don’t know that there’s *enough* water to counter that kind of sustained solar attack. And if that had been only hardship, I might’ve kept going.

But there were also squirrels. And almost certainly raccoons (though it’s possible it was just more squirrels).

Squirrels helped themselves to at least 20 lbs of my tomatoes. I was able to harvest 30 lbs or so over the season, mostly Romas/plumbs, Camparis, and Black Cherries. The Porters Pride and Creole varieties are evidently squirrel-nip. I only harvested a couple of those.

The raccoons did this to my corn:

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Why I Wrote a Screenplay (and Why More are Coming)

Blog

THE FRACKEN isn’t my first screenplay. It’s my second.

That first screenplay was me experimenting with the form using a sequel (plotted but never written) to an earlier novel (that I never intended to write a sequel for). I was asking two questions with that project:

  1. Could I write a screenplay?
  2. Could I write it in The Journal?

The answer to both questions: “Yes, with caveats.”

That was 2015. Only one other person has ever read that screenplay. I doubt there will be others.

In late 2025, as my wife and I were watching some Truly Bad SF/Horror films from the 50s-60s on YouTube, I had the thought: I should write a bad horror movie.

Sounds easy, doesn’t it? But I’ve come to believe that there is, in fact, a skill (or at least a knack) to writing even a bad movie. You watch those old films, like THE GAMMA PEOPLE (1956), and you think (or at least I thought), I could do that.

I wasn’t 100% wrong. 🙂

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The Hits Keep Coming

Blog, Garden

My obtuse–but hopefully entertainingly colorful–post back in November, The Gut-Punches of Life, gets an addendum.

We took another series of punches-to-the-face starting in January, but we’re in recovery now. Things might even be looking up. Which, yes, makes us increasingly nervous.

Next month marks 2 years since [redacted].

I’m just fucking tired. Tired of all the responsibility. Tired of making things work. Tired of pushing forward day after fucking day.

Almost tired enough to punt the garden this year. Even tho I already have several dozen seedlings (tomatoes, peppers, various flowers and herbs). I thought once I had the seeds started and they had sprouted I would feel better. But all it did was add to the load.

The Sunk Cost Fallacy is pulling me forward, tho. I’ve slowly been getting the garden infrastructure re-assembled. I’ll have the irrigation set up soon. I’ll scatter sunflowers and wildflowers around the front lawn. Get the lawn mowed (around the wildflowers, of course). And get the seedlings transplanted.

I’m not promising to do any other planting this year, tho. Maybe I’ll feel more in the spirit of things come the middle of May.

I love my garden. I love fresh tomatoes and cucumbers. I love seeing the bees and wasps and butterflies buzzing around the zinnias and marigolds and sunflowers. I enjoy the challenge of trying new plants.

But this year it just feels like one more thing on my list that I have to take care of, and I’m tired.

<deep breath>

I’ll survive. The garden will … maybe not thrive, but at least grow and be pretty, and we can have BLTs with homegrown tomatoes on homemade bread come July. Something to look forward to.

And that’s what I think I need more of: Things to look forward to.

-David