To be honest I'm not sure how many containers we have growing with various fruits and vegetables growing in them. I never really did a count, all I know is that my strawberry bushes have little red strawberries on them, that my zucchini is blooming and my tomato plants will soon need to be surround by cages.
Technically this is not my first garden, as my ex-wife Teri and myself planted a more "traditional" tilled garden years ago and produced much the same foodstuffs as I'm growing in containers, Growing in a container however is a bit easier to manage and certainly makes weeding easier.
Even the dogwood trees I planted seem to be doing well.
That being said, mistakes were made. Even if I lose some plants, I should be overtaken by zucchini and Brussels sprouts, as I bought way to many of those plants. My thinking was that I would kill at least half of them...but it appears all of them will survive. The same thing with the cucumbers, buying several was not needed as one or two would do. They were in packs of 4 for a reason, I realize now. That reason was to get rid of them.
So I will be overwhelmed in green goodness.
Still though, I feel a great sense of pride in this little garden of mine and I have no doubt that it will expand somewhat next year and Susan and I are already discussing adding blueberries and possibly grapes, seven species of which are native to the area, to the mix.
My mind is preoccupied with growth as I consider switching this blog over to another platform. If I am serious about blogging, then it might be time to leave Google's blogspot. I've used it for years, and have written two different blogs in addition to this one using blogspot. However times change and this platform no longer performs as well as it could.
Changing around this blog could make me some additional income, but it can also cost me and I'm not sure if I really want to try and make money from this blog. Then it becomes work. Right now I'm enjoying writing this just for the sake of writing. I do this for enjoyment and love, not for money.
I'm done now, I promise.
Which brings me to the other big change in my life, my job. I'm good at what I do, and have been working in insurance since 2014 although I've been working in banking and finance (with a few breaks) all of my life.
I didn't really want to go into insurance, I've done every type of job imaginable in call centers going back to my early college days. However I need a job and not only would this company pay for my license, but train me as well. I became an independent agent for a bit, then found my way into my current position with New York Life and am in my fourth year with the company.
I'm considering taking a job with the same company in Pittsburgh; which is about 70 minutes from where I live. It's a straight highway commute. I'm also being interviewed for a position where I can continue to work from home, but it would be pretty much the same job as the one in Pittsburgh. Only I would still be working on the phones. Both positions would increase my income nicely.
I miss people. I miss the hustle and bustle of the city. The sounds and the sights of it. For example, it's the Annual Arts Festival and when I worked downtown it was nice to wonder the streets taking in the music and arts after work. Sometimes Teri, my wife at the time, would come down on the bus and we would have dinner in town, only to lay under the stars on a blanket as a concert played in the park.
Those are things that you simply miss out living the country. Sure there are events...but they are not the size or the variety of an event in the city.
We always have to grow. We always have to evolve and change and discover. It's in our nature. Still though, part of me feels that I am making a small difference in the world at large by not commuting that much, by learning to grow my own food, by 1001 little things. In a way. It would be a small step backward if I take the job in Pittsburgh.
I am just grateful I'm in the position to make these sort of changes.
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