Thirteen Fountains, or, A Gardener in Spite of Himself

I'm at my mother's house in Canebrake. She's out of town and has asked me to watch her shop for a few days, which I have. Her shop has a lot of pottery and gardening accessories.

I'm no gardener. When I was younger, my parents had to mark plants with surveyors tape so I wouldn't mow over them.

My mother has had her shop for a little over a year, and I suppose I've become more of a gardener in spite of myself. I can recognize some plants now, which is not nearly as scary as recognizing individual Beanie Babies.¹

She's recently acquired some fountains. I know she's sold a few of them. I've helped move and install them at people's houses in Hattiesburg. One thing about watching a shop with thirteen operating fountains is that eventually you get so comfortable that you want to sleep.²

Before I headed off to Hattiesburg, I had some fun in Jackson. Thursday, I attended the Chick Ball where I saw friends.

Friday, I attended a retirement party and then met up with Pezgirl for some Japanese food at Little Tokyo. We talked about her upcoming trip, our jobs, and our being single. It was good to socialize. Pezgirl is one of the few people from work I can socialize with outside of work.³

I had also done some work, not only concerning my library, but additional stuff concerning one of the library associations to which I belong, and I think it's proved to be fruitful. I've been doing some followup work concerning that association matter the past couple of days, but fortunately, I've not had to do too much.⁴

After dining with Pezgirl, I went to the local Barnes and Noble and ran into Satsuma as well as some friends of mine from college.⁵ It was good to visit with them.

And, so, since Saturday, I've been in Hattiesburg. I've been doing some reading. I finished my book club reading, but didn't quite feel up to reading What is the What. I read some paperbacks instead.⁶

I've also been bored. I've called friends and tried to meet with them while I'm here in Hattiesburg. With no success, I'll add.

I've also heard sad news. A couple of very good friends of mine look like they're on their way to being divorced. I attended their wedding some seven and a half years ago. I feel very sad for them.

On that note, I'm heading back to Jackson tomorrow morning. I've got to attend a conference at another library. Friday, I'll be back at the college.

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¹My mother sold Beanie Babies for some seven years from 1997 to 2004. She started out selling at fairs in Mississippi and Louisiana and had a shop in Laurel as well as kiosks at shopping malls in Hattiesburg, Ridgeland, and Tuscaloosa. I occasionally helped. One such stint was watching over a kiosk at Hattiesburg for a week while she was on a medical mission trip in Africa.

²I didn't fall asleep though.

³The reason being, we're similar in age and are single, a rarity at not only my library, but my college. We have some things in common. For example, she had wanted to go to the Chick Ball, but didn't feel up to it. No, we're not going to go out with each other. While we're fabulous friends, we're not compatible boyfriend-girlfriend material, which is something we've both known for many years in spite of suggestions to me from other friends to ask her out.

⁴Yes, when I'm on vacation, such as it is, I'm still working.

⁵Friends from when I was an undergraduate student at MSU.

⁶Coraline, The Good Fairies of New York, and Beguilement in case you're interested.