The Obsessive Neurotic Gardener

Monthly Archives: August 2013

Our Trip to The Lake – 2013

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A water snake chomping down on a fish and ready to feast on my leg.

I am an overprotective parent to an embarrassing degree.

Looking for “bugs” is a great distraction.

Campfire? Really? How about a baseball game instead?

Those statements above are teasers for this post about our annual trip to Chester, CT where we stay in a cozy cottage on a lake that has been owned by the family for over 40 years. We look forward to it each and every summer; a chance to “escape” and convene with nature; our version of camping and teaching the kids about the great outdoors:  

But if we are being honest with ourselves, it is really none of those things. And that is where our story begins.

As we navigated the always traffic-filled Rt. 95 on our way to “The Lake” early last week, we kept replaying a conversation my wife had with a family member the night before. As said family was enjoying their time in The Lake the weekend before, they were greeted by an angry snake who emerged out of the water ready to take them all down, right after he finished destroying the giant fish he already had between his giant sharp teeth.

I’m pretty sure this is exactly how he looked.

I knew that the kids loved swimming in the lake and floating freely on rafts and that they required my presence in order to do so. Normally, I’m good with that and don’t mind the nibbling fish at my feet or stomping some weeds growing out of the lake floor, but this was going to test my resolve.

Sure enough, we arrive at the cottage and the kids have their bathing suits on before we can even drop our suitcases. I didn’t even have time to assess the location to determine the most likely spot where I would be attacked by the anaconda.

In we went, woo hoo, and I did my best to seem confident and enjoying the hell out of myself. The kids were not aware of Snakegate 2013 so I had to remain calm:    

I am their father and protector so a little snake wasn’t going to do me in. I’ve encounter snakes on my home turf all the time and don’t even flinch. Why should a “Snake in a Lake” (How good of a movie title is that? Sequel to “Snakes on a Plane”?) be any different. Time to put my big boy pants on … and I did just that:

We were all going to be alright.

*Post mortem – We never did see the snake, the kids eventually learned of it and weren’t freaked a bit and I found drinking a few beers before entering the lake each day worked like a charm*

After the kids were worn out from swimming, they wanted to move on to other lake activities like taking out the canoe:

Or the paddle boat:

That’s what you do when all of those things are at your disposal, right? Actually, you would be wrong. I wouldn’t take them out in any vessel. Mean SOB, right? Nope, I’m just terrified that we will tip over and life jackets be damned, would be stranded for days. Sensing a theme here? 
Overprotective – check
Paranoid – check
Scared of Mother Nature – check
Well, that last one isn’t really true, just a bit wary of things in and around bodies of water. 
One of my strongest parenting skills is ignore and distract. If you pretend not to hear children while they are babbling nonsensically, then they never really said anything. Try it, it works well.
So I never heard, “Can we take the canoe down to the swamp?”. Nope, I ignored it and moved into distract mode with “Let’s be all nature-y and stuff and observe all the wonderful insects and critters this lake has to offer”:          

And while we’re at it, how about the wonderful flowers we’ve been provided, free of charge:

That worked for like 35 seconds, but they did forget about canoeing. Nice.
Mornings on the lake are absolutely stunning and you really can lose yourself just sitting on the porch and watching all of the lake activity. It’s as if nothing else exists. And what screams lakeside relaxation more than a drive to go hunt down gourmet coffee? As you can see, we are teaching our son well (yes, it is decaf): 

And while we are talking all things lakeside, what better way to get out in the elements, smell those familiar smells and be at one with nature than … a baseball game? Didn’t see that coming did you?

My son added even more autographs to his growing collection and we had an awesome time with perfect weather. We even got to see some pretty kick butt fireworks. I love lakes!

On our final morning, we made it into town for the Sunday Market and I am proud to say that our kids get “eating local” and “growing your own” so maybe I’m not all that bad of a parent:

So even if we don’t do all the stereotypical things while at the “Lake House” and even if we drive 45 minutes to hunt down the best lobster sandwich:

It is all about family and togetherness and enjoying vacation time to do the things we love to do. We cherish our moments at The Lake each summer and have made some incredible memories, including me dancing around in the water thinking there is a snake circling me as prey.

John

Checking out more of my ornamental grasses

Posted on by Posted in Ornamental grass .

As the calendar swiftly moves from July to August, so does my attention move from the faded blooms on many of the perennials to the building excitement with most of the ornamental grasses. This is the time of year when the “warm season” grasses typically hit their stride and start to leave a serious impression. I am about OG’s all the time come August 1st and that will carry me through until December, weather permitting.

I shared the state of some of my ornamental grasses with you last week and to carry that exercise out further, here are some additional grasses as they look out in my garden as of today:

Miscanthus purpurascens (Flame Grass) is showing the first signs of that tremendous orange foliage color which is a sight to behold in a few more weeks:

While it still has yet to reach even 3 feet in height since I planted it three years ago, Miscanthus ‘Super Stripe’ still has that fantastic variegated foliage that contrasts so well with so many other shrubs/perennials. Now if it could also bloom with some sort of consistency, we may be on to something here:

What is there to say about Panicum (Switch Grass) ‘Northwind’? It has to be #1 or #2 on my ornamental grass list. The foliage always remains upright and tight, the foliage color of green/blue allows it to stand out from the other grasses and it holds up all winter without falling over. Whew … Is it hot in here or is it just this Switch Grass:

Let me preface my comments on the following OG with this; Northern Sea Oats reseeds like mad and can become a nuisance real quickly. Be very wary before adding these.

Having said that, they are pretty sweet looking im bloom with thier interesting “oats” and I have all of mine in one location where I let them seed to their heart’s content and it doesn’t impact any other plants:

That is it for today but I’m pretty sure I’ll have a third installment in the not so distant future. My ornamental grass collection is beyond what I even thought it was but during this time of year, it couldn’t be more exciting.