I'm 48 years old now, and my life has kind of settled in. I used to feel like a fly, buzzing around waiting for a piece of rotten meat to land on, but now, we've lived in the same house for ten years. This is the first time I have lived in a single dwelling that long in my whole life. When I went to graduate school in Minnesota, after we had lived in our apartment for 8 months, I told my wife that that was the longest I had ever lived in one home, continuously in my life. And it was true.
Now, however, I've settled into a pattern. Besides work, I have several mania that occupy my mind and my time. Most can be broken down by season, so I'll list them that way.
Winter
Of course Christmas and New Years are important holidays for us, and we celebrate them in style. Usually we invite several friends over for both holiday eve's and eat alot of finger foods, visit, play games and enjoy ourselves. On Christmas Eve, we put out Luminaries on our driveway to show that the Christ Child is welcome here.
Winter is also College Football Bowl Season which I am compelled to watch. I like any team that can come from a mid-major conference, bust into the BCS and win. I keep hoping BYU will be that school someday soon.
In Winter I also plant my garden (inside). I will plant somewhere in the neighborhood of 100 heirloom tomato plants. I love them, and enjoy watching them grow. It's the only thing I do that is slow, so it gives me solace.
Spring
Spring is when I really get the garden going. I have a PVC greenhouse that allows me to plant a little earlier and keep things growing a little later. I usually put the tomatoes and peppers in there. I also grow peas, carrots, beans, radishes, beets, onions, squash, pumpkins, cucumbers and broccoli. I love the garden. I try to be as organic as possible. I compost and don't use poisons on my garden.
I also start thinking about rocks and gemstones in the spring. I'll usually make at least one pilgrimage to the Teton Dam to collect Jade each year. There are also some cinder cones here that bear a plagioclase, sunstone material that is really pretty when cut. Sometimes I'll plan a Montana trip to go digging for Sapphires. Those are my favorites, and I like the Montana ones the best.
Summer
Of course the garden is still in full swing at this point, and we'll have the backyard looking really good because we like to entertain friends in our yard. We have one of the largest yards in the town in which we live. It wasn't intended to be that way, it's just the home we bought. Both my wife and I love the big back yard. When we drive up on the hill, we see the huge mansions set on very small pieces of property. My wife can't stand that. I agree. I'd hate to have a house that big and have neighbors that close.
Summer is a time for rockhounding. It's been a hobby of mine for forty years. I still can't get enough of it.
Fall
I'm a sucker for Halloween, and am determined to have a yard haunt this year. I'm usually too busy to do that at Halloween time so this year I'm starting early. I'm crafting a graveyard out front, and a witches lair for just inside the house. I'm pretty excited for that.
By late fall, the garden has given me everything it can and it's time to can the food. I do most if not all of the canning, jam making, dehydrating and food storing in our home. I don't mind, I really kind of like doing it. Both my brothers do the canning in their homes and I don't mind emulating them. I hope I have a large harvest this year because I bought a whole lot of extra bottles.
The other thing that occupies my mind in the fall is college football. I follow most of Division IA, but especially the teams that aren't from the privileged conferences. I like whichever teams play against the power conferences, and it's made sweeter every time they win.
So there you have it. My year in a nutshell
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