Right...

So, in the midst of jogging this morning I remembered one of the things that I'd forgotten from my list of things I learned despite being jet lagged:

5. I probably would get kicked out of town if I actually tried to move here because I wouldn't keep my grass short enough and my garden would stop looking beautiful after about a week.  Wednesday, when I returned to the Pastor's house for dinner, he was out cutting the grass.  Mind, his yard already looked like a golf course, immaculately manicured, an ethereal, almost glowing shade of green and not a weed in sight.  But it was getting a trim anyhow.  And I don't think that this is just a quirk of his...I've not seen a lawn yet that has even a blade out of place.  When I cut mom's grass this summer I had little lines that I'd missed between passes running the length of the yard that stuck up rebelliously like the mohawks of teenagers.  I seriously hope that no one asks me to do the mowing for them; it'd be a sore disappointment.

As for the gardens...well, it seems that every house has one and they're absolutely stunning.  Riotous patches of color expertly chosen to suit one another and kept in line by brick and stone walls, beautiful planters and well-mulched, weed-free beds.  The beauty of them inspires me to dream about planting in the backyard of this house.  But I'm pretty sure I know how that experiment would end.  The analogy that comes to mind is that time in chemistry class when Mr. Gauvin put a small piece of magnesium in a bucket of water outside.  It exploded.

Perhaps I'll ask the Pastor or one of the church members if I might take a picture of their yard just to give you a sample of the beauty.

For now...here are some pictures from the morning run.  It's a beautiful day again, so far.  A man I met on the beach walking his dog (there are lots of dogs here ^.^) said that the weather's nice because it's the first week the kids are back in school.  It would be just like the weather to taunt innocent children in such a way.  But for the moment, I'm choosing to believe that I brought it with me.

My Morning Run