I have complex feelings about our home here in Fort Collins. We have a very nice house, but I'm not sure how long we will be here. While we are in a densley populated neighborhood, the back yard here was pretty attractive when we bought the house, and afforded us reasonable privacy. Sadly, the neighbor across our back fence elected to remove all his trees and other landscaping just a few months later, exposing unwelcome views of his and another house and their windows. Adding to my dismay over this shock, I was told by a tree trimming crew that our own large cottonwood tree was in decline, and a candidate for removal in a few years.

For a while, I set aside all my initial ambitions for garden and landscape improvements, but finally decided to go ahead and construct some raised planter beds and improve some other existing beds so I can grow fresh organic vegetables and herbs for the kitchen. There is no cost savings - but there is something intangibly compelling about producing fresh produce.

Today I finished laying out the second of two planters just before an approaching storm began producing rain accompanied by frequent thunder.



Speaking of thunder, today I observed that Mdog didn't slink away to the basement when the storm began booming overhead. I guess her recent loss of hearing will allow her a more relaxed summer when thunderstorm season really gets rolling.

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