Solving for X...

Dear Maria,

Greetings, and thanks for the kind reminder. I’ll have to own up to a bit of blurring of days now and again, and so in an odd fashion I am more calendar-dependent in retirement as my focus on when and where has been dulled. Without my working friends—sorry, but it is true—the week’s progress could easily become nearly meaningless.

The daily touchstone of the school bus rumbling by just before six o’clock keeps me attuned to the progress of the morning and the week, just as does the sunrise and, later, Max’s demand that our morning walk be launched. Of course sun and Max are indifferent to the days of the week.

My daily quotation on Facebook this morning was "Garden as though you will live forever" from William Kent, who developed the English style of natural gardens and designed Alexander Pope’s garden at Twickenham. I do not presume to think of myself as a gardener—nor as a writer, for that matter—but my mantra to manage, not manicure is sort of in keeping with that line of thinking. Fine, commence chuckling at will.

I was just notified by the squeals of brakes and the grind of gears that today is garbage pick-up day. See, just as good as a town-crier.

Missing now are day-counts. X number of instructional days, x number of days for seniors, x number of days until the AP exam, x number of days until graduation. I suppose I could substitute x number of days until a very young friend’s birthday, x number of days until a niece’s wedding, x number of days until a doctor’s appointment.

I have said on several occasions in the past few weeks—born of this season of planting and yard work—that I very much believe that the next owner of this home will tear out the back garden, which is now with four young trees and around three-dozen plants set into place by my hand. Easier to mow grass than to tend to plants, or so some—many?—think. Maybe the trees in back and the four out front will survive the cut.

But, maybe not.

Perhaps I will see one more spring here, or maybe twenty. What would Housman think? That x number of springs are too few.

Hope all is well with you and the family. Until the next time, srk