TC Larson

Stories and Mischief

The Whole Enchilada

7
Jul

Have I had the courage to mention to you that I’ve uploaded a large portion of the story I’ve been working on for the past year?

No?

Did I forget to tell you?

Huh. Are you sure I didn’t tell you?

No?

Well, maybe that’s because the idea of you actually reading it is terrifying, to put it lightly. The thought of having it read by people I might actually run into is enough to give me heart palpitations. But if I’m only writing it for my own entertainment, then why bother to actually write it down at all?

I haven’t contemplated the deeper implications of the creative process and whether it is purely a solitary exercise that is just as valid if done for only oneself. I’m sure there are plenty of souls who have reflected on this at length. I’ll leave the reflecting to them, and you can all thank me for that later.

That being said, I’m going to invite you in to my little world by giving you the link to find my “book” (I use that term loosely). I’ve posted it on this website: www.authonomy.com It’s a place where people can post their books, read other books, and even potentially have an editor at Harper Collins Publishing read their books. I have a feeling there is a certain amount of consistent dedication required to actually move up in the standings, and I just don’t have the free time to be able to cast my net into the waters of other users, hoping to convince them to read, review and put my book on their virtual bookshelves (the way to get the book to a higher ranking).

However, it does feel good to officially (sortof) share with the world (kindof) what I’ve been working on. The whole thing started as one bit that morphed into a much larger bit, and now has a life of its own. Sure, some of the characters are inspired by people I know, and at the beginning they were conglomerations of multiple personalities. But now they are their own people, and they’ve left behind their former confines. So don’t go into it thinking that you will recognize anyone (even yourself) because chances are, any character traits exhibited were merely inspired by a chance happening or small quirk I noticed along the way. Or, if you do recognize something or someone that resembles YOU, just shake it off and try to be flattered that you were such an interesting person that you worked your way into a piece of high art. (*snort*)

Take a look if you have some time on a quiet evening. I think you might enjoy it. Click on the link and then look on the right hand side of the page for “Read the Book” and click on that. I welcome your reactions, but try to find something nice to say before you dive into all the flaws you found, okay? Thanks so much for reading!

http://www.authonomy.com/books/29741/frosh/

That Looked Different Inside My Head

15
Jun

I purchased two plants that required staking or support of one kind or another. In the hopes of adding some color to the wall of green that is my back lot line, I got a morning-glory and a scarlet runner bean. The scarlet runner bean is supposed to be both gorgeous AND edible — a two-fer! How could I pass it up?

At first I just created a tiny teepee from some bamboo-ish garden sticks I had around. You probably know the ones; they are the kind that turn your hands green if you handle them too much. After a few weeks of patient observation, it occurred to me that the poor things had nowhere to go and since the bean’s tag claimed it could get up to 10 feet tall, I decided to revise my initial strategy. It required some creativity, because I didn’t want to spend a lot and because, well, it’s just more fun when you make it yourself. I enlisted some child labor (my own children, breathe easy) and we embarked on a little project. It was quite rudimentary and didn’t need much in the way of equipment or tools, as you can see below.

It all seemed like such a good idea

After we got the “posts” painted (and dried, smarty pants) it was time to assemble the structure. For whatever reason, I decided the time to do this was 7:30 p.m., exactly the time when my kids get ready to go to bed. Why? Who knows, but that’s when I started to try to saw the ends of the posts into points, which in my mind would make them go into the ground better. That proved to be more difficult than I thought. The crazy things jiggled right out of my grip as I tried to saw them, or they twisted and escaped from me that way. But I was not proud and I went inside and dragged my sweet, long-suffering husband out and convinced him to saw the posts. It took him all of three minutes (for the record, he did not cut them into a point per se, he just sliced the end off at an angle. Not exactly what I had in mind, but it still served the purpose). Fully committed at that point, I had to get the thing constructed before I could call it a night, but the mosquitos were coming out and the children were crabby, so I had to do it quickly.

Once I had the posts pointy, I started digging holes in the back of the garden. Then I got the staple gun and the climbing material for the plants. Stapling like the wind, I got the thing started and managed to avoid squishing the plants I was trying to support (don’t ask me about any other plants!). After getting the kids to bed, my sweetie came out again and helped me complete as much as we could, since I ran out of climbing material. Then we went inside.

When my helpful husband came home from work the next night, he asked me if we were going to hold a ski race in the backyard. Puzzled, it took me a full 30 seconds to figure out what he was talking about. I’ll let you see if you agree with his assessment.

Either a skier or a snowplow is about to round the corner

Despite the current ugliness, I’m willing to reserve judgment until the flowers have fully covered the “trellis” and bloomed. If it still looks industrial after that point, then I will admit defeat. And it is possible that the green colored plastic fencing might have been more subtle; however, the trellises I’ve seen are so frequently white that I was swayed by my preconception — I could only be creative to a certain degree. So again, it is possible that my brilliant plan might not turn out as I intended. There is still the outside chance that it will all work out. Until it doesn’t work out, I remain hopeful. That’s what gardening is all about anyway, right?

An Unexpected Oasis

9
Jun

Two days ago it was over 100 degrees here in good ‘ol Minnesota, land of 10,000 lakes and plenty of beaches that are either skunky or private. Until I started trying to find a lake to swim in, I never noticed how many of our 10,000+ lakes are really only for fishing – lots of them are surrounded by reeds or weeds that would devour any brave swimmer who attempted to reach the open water.

My three kids and I loaded up the car in search of a better beach experience than our most recent at the horrible, smelly, dead-fish infested beach on White Bear Lake which, as it turned out, had a sign posted saying “No Swimming” because of the low water levels and drop offs. As if I would have wanted to hopscotch over the fish corpses to get to the water in the first place (okay, there were three dead fish, but they had been there a long time and the whole place smelled like it should be the end of August instead of the beginning of June). I remained scarred by the disappointment of our last swimming attempt, so although the kids were outfitted in swim suits, I remained in my tank top and capris. Soon, I was wishing I had exercised more faith and put on the swim suit because we found one of the best spots I’ve been to and it was less than 10 minutes from my Lake Elmo home and, wait for it, because it happened to be the first Tuesday of the month, it was FREE. I couldn’t have planned it better if I had tried!

What was this sublime discovery of bliss on such a sweaty hot day? It was a swimming pond. What exactly is that, you ask? To the untrained eye, it looks like a cross between a traditional pond (because of the small size), a sandy beach (because of the, well, the sand), and a park (because of the restrooms close nearby and the playground just over the hill). But it is even more than all that. It is a chlorinated, shallow, sandy bottomed haven of respite on an unseasonably hot day. It was perfect for my three kids (ages seven and under) to splash and swim safely for hours without any leeches, weeds, or swimmer’s itch. I was kicking myself for not having on my suit because we would have stayed much longer than the two hours we did had I been prepared. Next time, I’ll bring one of those plastic weave, collapsible lawn chairs so I can sit in the water and throw things for my little retrievers to fetch while I bask without getting any sand anywhere it does not belong.

The word on the street is that if you want a spot under an umbrella, especially on the weekend, you must get there by 10:00a.m., and the weekends during the summer are very busy. It will be sure to pick up as children finish school. It was also suggested that it settles down after dinner, so for less activity and more room to spread out, it might be wise to leave for an early dinner, then return just as everyone else is heading out. It only costs $25 for a permit that is good for a year, which is so worth it especially when you consider the cost of bringing a family to a water park for the day. I drive a rockin’ minivan so just think of how many people I could cram in it and bring to the swimming pond, especially if we have a hot summer. If you’re looking for a cheap time and a chance to swim, dig, splash, build, float and relax, this is the place to try.

http://www.co.washington.mn.us/info_for_residents/parks_division/hours_and_fees/lake_elmo_park_reserve/ (Scroll down in the link to see/read info about the swimming pond.)

A New Experiment

8
Jun

Recently I have been reading and re-reading a gardening book I bought at a Goodwill or Salvation Army some time ago. It goes through the entire year and maps out what you could do to work on your garden, even in the winter. It’s pretty amazing. But the most amazing discovery I have made through reading it is something called rooting powder.

Rooting powder is supposedly this amazing stuff that makes portions of plants grow roots and become independent plants in their own right. If I was more curious, I would find out what amazing chemical compound forces plants to do this, but I wouldn’t probably know what those compounds were anyway, so I haven’t bothered. (Is this lazy or merely efficient?) The time required varies widely for different plants to begin sending out roots, and some of them take so long that I would surely have thrown them out long before they had a chance to prove themselves. However, there is one particular plant for which I am willing to go the distance: the flowering almond.

Not to be confused with the sweet almond, which I mistakenly kept calling this plant until I did more research, the pink flowering almond is not as fragrant, and this is good for a nasally, allergic-y type like me. As much as I like the springtime scents of things in bloom, those same scents can be my undoing. With a flowering almond, I get to have the fluffy pink and white blossoms of spring without the itchy eyeballs and chain sneezing. The problem is, I don’t have a flowering almond, and a one gallon plant from the store costs at least $30, which I also don’t have, at least not for any more plants. Enter rooting powder.

A small container of rooting powder only costs $5 and if I can stay away from my favorite drive-thru $1.07 fountain beverage for a week, I’ll make up the difference in no time. I took some cuttings from a plant I had access to, I dipped the end of the cutting in water, then dipped it in the powder, then stuck it in some dirt. Later, I realized my mistake and repeated the process, only putting the dipped stick in a bunch of sand rather than dirt. Now I must wait. But before I wait in vain, I just wanted to ask if the plant in the photo below looks the way it is supposed to? My instincts tell me something is amiss.

These are root powder cuttings after a couple days. This does not bode well.

A Practice in Restraint

12
May

We finally (FINALLY!) moved into our new house. We could take a moment to reflect and rejoice just about that fact alone, but we will move on to the real point of this post — my newly inherited garden.

It is so hard to wait and see what comes up in the garden beds. I’m dying to get  my hands in the dirt and add to the basics that I’ve found so far. It is still kindof early, but already I’ve identified multiple varieties of hostas, peonies, daffodils, sedums, rhododendrons, silver mound and grape hyacinths. Someone here cared for this yard at one point, but it has been a while. And of course, as things vary by gardener, there are placements of flowers and shrubs that leave me scratching my head. For example, why did someone plant burning bush, which is now at least five feet tall, at the front of a flower bed along the side of the house and then place sedums behind it? The sedums will be blocked out from sight by the shrubs. Why? I’m not sure yet, and it may end up being a lack of planning, but maybe there’s a secret reason that will become clear as the season progresses.

I found a fantastic website that focuses on plants that thrive in Minnesota. None of this “landscaping in Georgia business” that so many gardening magazines use as their starting point and which won’t help me in the least. The University of Minnesota Extension Office is a great resource and this particular link has all kinds of helpful plants that grow well in our conditions. They also have lists of plants that are deer resistant, which is a new challenge of my new location. They’ve already munched the tops off the emerging hostas near the road and along the end of the driveway, and I’m curious about how far into the yard they will venture.

If you’re looking for plants that have a good chance of thriving in Minnesota, that don’t need a lot of babying, and that have a long flowering season, check out this link and see what you think. They even list things that attract butterflies or hummingbirds, always a welcome addition to the interest of the garden. I have a feeling it will be something I come back to again and again.
http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/horticulture/components/08464-complete.pdf

Washing Machine Crisis

15
Feb

It is 7:45 in the morning, and I just discovered that I successfully put a child’s Pull-Up (overnight diaper, basically) into the washing machine last night and ran the load. All the clothes are now covered with granules of water absorbent gel from inside the used Pull-up. It’s decision time: should I put the clothes back in the washer and run it again? Or put the clothes into the dryer and hope the gel doesn’t melt to all the clothes and the inside of the dryer? Did I mention that I now live at my in-law’s home and it is THEIR dryer we’re discussing?? This is too difficult a decision for 7:45 in the morning.

This one is like a porcupine quill — it works its way under your skin

5
Feb

My dear friend Erica suggested I read Everyday Justice by Julie Clawson, and since I value her opinion, I gladly picked it up. I started reading it on an afternoon when my three kids were being cared for by their grandparents, and I had some alone-time. I got a piece of cake from a tasty bakery and sat down with my dessert and a good cup of coffee.

Not long into the book, I could hardly enjoy one more bite of my cake nor sip my coffee without thinking about the impact my actions were having on the world at large. It kinda felt like I was eating cardboard rather than decadent three-layer chocolate bliss. And my coffee tasted like brewed guilt diluted with half and half of ignorance, rather than the nicest java.

Julie Clawson is kind enough to remind us all through the first chapter of her book, “Don’t panic” which I appreciated even as my snack cemented in my throat. She calmly and matter-of-factly details how many of the choices we make in our everyday lives have significant impact on the world at large. And I mean significant. We’re talking about slave labor, strip mining, long-term repercussions significant. But she also describes how difficult it can be to find alternatives that are mindful of both the environment and the workforce that is employed to deliver certain goods to local stores (one example Clawson used was trying to find a bra that was made with organic cotton AND produced using Fair Trade standards — much more difficult than she thought it would be).

I had to return the book to my pal, but some of the chapters that I remember include: cocoa, coffee, gasoline, debt, clothing and food, and there were probably at least six more chapters. Each of these included practical steps a regular person could take to change the kind of impact she makes.

Even though she told me not to panic, it was overwhelming to even consider reading the entire book through in one sitting. I read it bit by bit. There were way too many things that I should do but would mean a financial investment or complete change of routine, which, as the mother of three kids six and under, I just didn’t feel up to doing. Yes, I am that lazy. So I picked ONE thing to change, and I’ve done it, and it’s an everyday sort of thing.

A luxury that I enjoy is coffee. I’ve stopped buying it at coffee shops very often (is anyone else experiencing sticker shock at paying $4 for a medium latte??), and mostly brew it at home now. Because of this, I know about coffee, I like coffee, and I now like to drink it knowing that my financial investment in a specific company is not rewarding the inhumane or unethical treatment of the people doing the dirty work of producing it for me. Because of Everyday Justice, I’ve started buying Fair Trade coffee whenever I can, sometimes holding off on buying coffee if the store doesn’t offer Fair Trade, and from local companies if I can find it. One that has been pretty easy to find is City Kid Java http://www.citykidjava.com/, a company based in Minneapolis and an offshoot of Urban Ventures. If you haven’t heard about Urban Ventures, it is an amazing non-profit that has committed to breaking the cycle of poverty in their Twin Cities community. http://www.urbanventures.org/ I’ve since discovered that my church has started brewing City Kid Java too! Aside from that specific brand, I was also able to find Fair Trade coffee at Costco, Cub and Byerly’s, and it’s never been über expensive compared to the other brands.

It may not seem like an important change, but if you knew how much coffee I drink, you might realize that it is a bigger impact than you thought. And it was easy to do – it really only involved taking a step to the next two feet of the coffee shelf at the store, in addition to becoming aware of the issues that surround coffee production. Thank you, thank you. Okay, please hold your applause. Settle down now. Really though, I’m such a pathetic, typical American (not at all like you, Gentle Reader); I’m all for making a difference, especially if the work necessary to make that happen is only lifting my arm to the left rather than to the right. Whew! Tough stuff.

This book is one that you can pick up, read a chapter, then go around thinking about that chapter for weeks, or even longer. You don’t need to chuck your old life and implement all the suggestions she makes, but I would bet that if you read Everyday Justice you won’t be able to go away from it without at least wanting to do something different in your everyday decisions. In a way, it is a big pat on the back, because the book acknowledges the significance of the individual and the ability to make a difference in the lives of  others just by buying gas from a different station or trying out the local Salvation Army store for certain items (note: once you start looking at thrift shops for things you need or want, it might become an addicting challenge). In any case, it is good to know some of backstory about the items we use everyday, and if nothing else, this book is informative and you’ll go away more knowledgable than you started off, which, in my opinion, Dear Reader, is nearly always a good thing. I highly recommend Julia Clawson’s Everyday Justice and I’d love to hear your reactions if you get a chance to read it.

If you want to check her out, here is an interview she did and I think it is pretty current.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSdIxz6YG2U