E used to play hockey in a recreational beer league. The ice rink was five minutes from our house. He would leave at 8:45 pm on a Monday night for a one hour game and get home around 1 am. There was a lot of bs’ing over beers in the dressing room post game.  He took some time off when he got sick in 99 but returned to his Monday night ritual six months after his transplant. He eventually had to quit not because of his heart but because of his aged back… There had been a lot of groaning on Tuesdays.

Do you remember in elementary school on a Friday afternoon when the teacher would come in and announce that everyone was going to change desks.. pack up your stuff..I used to love those days, mostly because I had the faint hope that I would finally be able to sit beside one of my friends.. never happened. I always had to sit beside someone I couldn’t laugh with.

Well, today I am the teacher and my garden plants are the students, and everyone is moving desks. No one is safe… I explain patiently to all of them that the change will do them good as I essentially tear them away from their soil mates. I explain they will make new friends.

All summer I have watched their colours and behaviours as the sun and shade took turns lighting their leaves. I knew that come September I could experiment with new partnerships, different companions. So, it is September and I am back in the garden, my happy place, having such fun moving everyone about… Only spring will tell if my ideas are valid.. if they are, awesome.. if not there is always next September. It is the great thing about gardening.. nothing is set in stone… I did this every September in L and eventually found the perfect spot for all of my plants.

Tonight, is knit night. A  winter activity of the full-time women on our island. We gather at Anne’s with a project we might be working on.. knitting, sewing, weaving.. whatever.. we sit and talk and relax.  Even without the men the topic often turns to systems.  Septic, solar, water, because pink or blue, systems are relevent to us all…

I haven’t begun any of my winter crafty projects yet so will go to Annes empty handed. Ultimately, like E’s hockey league, it isn’t the knitting that is important its the conversation and the opportunity to drink on

a week night