Of Fences, Flowers, and, of course, Fishing

I'd planned to hit the Huron river this morning for smallmouth, but lazies got the best of me.

A shame, since the rest of the day is going to be no fun. I'm going to powerwash our deck and fence in preparation for refinishing them. This is supposed to be done annually, but I skipped last year, and some parts haven't been done for three years. Note for purchasing next house--no wooden decks!

Garden Update: Yesterday morning I went outside to water and saw that something had eaten most of our sunflower seedlings. Bought three started sunflower plants at Whole Paycheck to replace them. Not much to them except long stalks with a small cluster of leaves at the top, hopefully out of bunny reach.

All the plants I transplanted in our wildflower meadow are still alive. There are a few sprouts which might be incoming wildflowers or might be the grass returning that I'd hoped I'd finished off with the rototiller. There are a lot of sprouts I know for sure are grass.

This week, some lovely pink asters came into bloom near the road in front of our house. I'm going to watch for their seeds to develop and mature so I can add them to the plot out back.

I've noticed that wild roses have bloomed in the last week. Their fragrance in the morning air makes jogging a little more pleasant. It almost makes up for having to swat deer flies.

I have resumed some of the academic reading I'd planned for the summer (and was doing so well with until the garden thing got going). Yesterday I started a book about fly fishing in North American literature. I have a feeling it's going to supply a number of quotes for this site.

And on the subject of fishing, yesterday I received a solicitation to purchase a life membership in Trout Unlimited. It happens a couple times a year. I have been a regular member for a few years, and have thought about going for the lifetime membership, but the cost has held me off. But this time I think I'll go for it. Why? Is it my deepening committment to conservation? Hell no, it's the rod and reel they're giving away to new lifers. I had been considering buying a rod like that anyway. Maybe my motives are impure, but it's still a good contribution to a good organization (and I'm pretty sure TU isn't paying retail for those rods). Besides the rod, I'll get a cool patch to put on my fishing vest so everyone can see just how generous (or calculating?) I am.

The Ann Arbor chapter does some pretty good work and I've wanted to get involved with them. If only they didn't meet Wednesdays.