I am normally aware of the two equinoxes and the two solstices each year and take note of their passing. I just realized today that the summer solstice happened four days ago (on June 21st). I checked several online sources and discovered that it occurred at 6:51 AM in the Eastern Time Zone, although it wasn’t clear if that was standard or daylight savings time. Since that time the hours of daylight have been declining slightly each day. Perhaps that is why I am not getting as much accomplished as I need to. Although the summer vacation season begins Memorial Day weekend and runs through the Labor Day weekend, and climatologically “summer” corresponds to this, solar summer runs from the summer solstice to the autumnal equinox.
Linda went to the bakery today while I sat at home and waited to see if the landscape contractor would show up. I left a message for him at 9 AM and had not heard anything by 9:30, so I headed to South Lyon to help move the SLAARC Field Day equipment out of the water tower and into Steve’s (N8AR) trailer. We were done by 11:15 and I was about to head to Scotty’s (AC8IL) shop to return a couple of chargers when the landscaper called to let me know they would be at the house around noon.
Steve, who owns Village Landscape Development, showed up with four young men who looked up to the initial tasks that needed to be accomplished. Three of them were not long out of high school, but the forth one, Lucas, was a few years older and more experienced. He was the crew chief. I indicated that we wanted to save four hosta plants, a large group of day lilies, and a large decorative grass plant, and had to show Steve where I wanted them re-planted. I also had to indicate where I wanted the blocks from the existing retaining walls stacked. Once that was sorted out I went inside and left them alone to do their work.
Mid-afternoon I heard the sound of Keith’s riding lawn mower and went out to check on his progress as well as the landscaping crew. I had loaned our string trimmer and wheel barrow to the landscaping crew to clear the two slopes above the retaining walls and move the plants they were transplanting, but they needed Keith to mow the flat grass areas where they be working. I flagged Keith down and got that sorted out with him and then went back inside and left everyone to their work.
I was not as productive during the afternoon as I would have liked to be. I worked at my desk dealing with e-mails, RVillage groups, and computer apps, but having people at the house working is always somewhat distracting. Linda eventually got home from the bakery and we settled into conversation about our days that took my mind off of the landscape work and other projects, at least for a while.
Steve had indicated earlier in the day that he would be back in the evening to check on the progress of the work. His original target was 7 PM but he called around then to say that it would be around 9 PM. He typically has 3 or 4 crews working, weather permitting. The persistent rains this spring have carried over into summer and created big challenges for builders and landscapers. To catch up, he puts in 14 -16 hour days. When he got to our house at 9:20 PM there was just enough light to see and we made a quick inspection of what had been accomplished during the day. Considering that the work did not really get underway until 1 PM, he seemed satisfied that the crew had put in a good effort and followed the directions he gave them. That was good enough for us too.