gardening at night

It’s the actual gardening / science part that I don’t get. I like the herbs, flowers, plants, and trees that result from all the work – work that I don’t mind doing – but the science blinds me. I saw this article at Slate this morning and thought two things: I’ll give it a go and I need to forward it to X. This is the kind of stuff she ponders. And, as she often relays to me the importance of growing zones, turning soil, composting, and tales of gardenology, my eyes begin to glaze over in a “she doesn’t know I’m not listening but I’ll nod, stare with interest, and blink at appropriate times” type of sheen. This article, which I quit reading after three or four paragraphs, has confirmed to me for all time that it’s the subject matter and not her. If our roles were to be reversed and the subject matter altered then her cross to bear would be me explaining the other night how I’d looked up the D.C. ward system and city council configuration. I pointed out, rather interestingly, how there are 13 members of the council: one from each of the eight wards, four at-large members (voted city wide), and one chairman (voted city wide for that specific seat). Hold on…I know you’re excited. The four at-large seats are staggered so two are on the ballot every two years and each D.C. voter can vote for up to two candidates. When the votes are tallied the leading vote getter gets the first seat and the second seat is given to the next leading vote getter not from the same party. Since a Democrat always wins in D.C. that means that the first Republican or Independent or Party of Todd nominee on the vote tally gets the second seat. The D.C. Council now has 11 Democrats, 1 Republican, and 1 Independent. As I was trying to finish this intriguing tale of trivia the other night she merely looked over and gave me either a “stop telling me inane facts” look, or said something like “stop telling me inane facts”. Same either way, right?

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