Day 49: Cinco de Mayo

What I'm listening to today

Behind the Springs (podcast) - Behind the Springs is a podcast produced by the Colorado Springs city government to provide informative and educational material regarding the goings-on in and around the city. In this episode, Dr. Robin Johnson, El Paso County Medical Director, was interviewed regarding the COVID-19 crisis, especially as it pertains to El Paso County and Colorado Springs. I was appreciative of the interview, because she specifically called out dangerous misinformation about home remedies from snake-oil salesmen online.

What I'm watching today

Horse Girl (2020, Netflix streaming) - Alison Brie wrote and stars in this look at mental health. Or maybe it's about alien abduction. Or maybe it's about cloning. Or maybe it's about time loops. The point is that it's difficult to discern what it is real and what is not. One moment you're watching a scene and thinking to yourself that this can't possibly be happening, and then it suddenly gets grounded in reality and your head is spinning. The next moment you're watching something real and then realize it was all a dream. Needless to say I liked this movie a lot. One caveat though: It's not for everyone.

Tucker and Dale vs. Evil (2010, Netflix streaming) - This is a quintessential horror genre satire. It's Scream meets Cabin in the Woods meets Dumb and Dumber. The whole movie is a parable for not judging a book by its cover, and also uses every horror trope while not actually being a horror film. The backwoods hillbillies are smarter than they seem, and the well-to-do preppy college kids are not as cool as they look. I'm not going to lie; I could watch this over and over again.

What I'm doing today

Harvesting - No I don't have an early crop of strawberries. Last year for Father's Day the kids got me a compost tumbler. I harvested a batch today. Mmmm that smell. It will go nicely in the garden and in some spots in the yard where I need to patch the turf.

Roto-tillin' - (like a villain) I did a first pass through the garden today with the roto-tiller. The soil was pretty dry and pulverized into a fine powder. Not exactly ideal conditions for a garden. This tells me that I have a lot of watering to do in the near future and might need to consider underground drip lines. It also tells me that I need to keep the garden covered in the winter somehow to prevent moisture loss.

Paving - While moving some things around I found some brick pavers by the shed--not enough for a patio, but enough for something. Then I had an idea. The dog and kids are pretty bad about kicking gravel into the yard when they go up and down the steps to the deck. I was planning on replacing the gravel in this high traffic area with some flagstone that I have lying around, but I don't have very much. Instead I enlisted some kids with shovels to remove a patch of gravel and laid a brick pattern. It turned out pretty nice. Is it to code? Probably not. Will it survive the winter? I doubt it. Would I have fired a professional for turning in this same work? Absolutely. But with leftover materials and 45 minutes to complete the job, I'd say it turned out ok.