My wife was at a garden supply store, and our daughter convinced her to buy an already growing, potted set of sunflowers. I was happy enough to have them, and I planted them in the front yard right away.
They're wilting. I've given them plenty of everything, except whatever it is they actually want. I need the sunflower whisperer. Someone tell me why I can't have any this year.
Nobody knows how to spell it, that's why we all write 'congrats!'
Anyway... my older brother got married this Friday. As he was the last of our siblings to do so, I suppose the theme of the wedding was (on our side anyway) 'Last Man Standing', but I had the good grace not to say that out loud. They're a good compliment to each other, and as well as I know my brother, she checks all the boxes.
And off they go.
For years I've been wanting to hike in the Adirondacks. One thing or another would be planned, then something else would come up and put a stop to those plans. Either it was Canadian wildfires causing the DEC to close the trails, or storms washing out the trailheads, or... either way it was something. Year after year I was thwarted.
I decided to sneak up on them this time. Thursday night I drove up with a friend and we stayed the night, and Friday we started at Whiteface Mountain (you can drive up to the top). From there, we hiked down, then up to Esther Mountain. Then back to Whiteface. Took right around four hours. I managed to only need to stop for a break once, and that because hiking back up to Whiteface, after hiking for three and a half hours, the steep incline was starting to be a bit taxing. I would say it wasn't bad for my age, but there were plenty of people older than I am that were breezing past us.
Goals.
I try to keep active, but that's not the kind of active I'm accustomed to. Maybe I had the wrong kinds of foods, whatever. I'm already planning my next hike. Meanwhile, I spent my birthday laying about recovering. First time I stayed home doing nothing for my birthday.
I have no sunflowers and I'm stumped. Several years ago I planted sunflowers in the front of my house, and they grew as tall as the roof and shaded the living room very nicely. The kids loved them, I loved them. It was nice. Then my wife wanted to try growing strawberries.
ok
She finally gave up and let me have that spot of ground back, and when I put in the garden, I planted my sunflowers same as last time. Nothing grew. Weeks went by and nothing grew. I just replanted them, thinking maybe the seeds were no good. Or something dug in and ate them, I don't know. But I should have a field of foot tall sunflowers by now.
My kids last day of school is June 27. For those of you without a calendar, that's seven full days after the official start of summer. When I was a kid I would look at the school calendar and add up the random days off, then stack them at the end to see how much sooner we could end the school year.
They got two weeks off at Christmas and New Years. Two solid weeks. I got one as a kid, this is nuts. Meanwhile there's that random week off in February that the rest of the country seems to lack. Trim that year end break back to normal and cut off the winter fat and bring it up. We could be done so much sooner.
Of course if it were up to me they wouldn't see the inside of a classroom between Memorial Day and Labor Day. June, for the elementary and middle schoolers is filled with nonsense. It's all field days and parties of various sorts. Meanwhile the high schoolers are taking Regents exams that literally nobody but the high school administration cares about. Not a single college or university gives one single thought to Regents exams, but the NY school system still perpetuates the idea that it counts as college level and is seen as super advanced.
They all need to be fired.
