Pre-Garden

Hello from south central Kansas, where we've been very windy, but warmer these last couple of days.  The gardening bug is searching out people to bite, and it got me when I looked at the Burpee website.  It got my daughter when she starting googling  how to plant container gardens.  I do have some asparagus spears poking up through the ground, but not very many - I think I counted 5 or 6 of them.  I'm hoping they'll be big enough to pluck in a few days and that I'll get to enjoy some pan grilled or roasted fresh asparagus spears soon.  The strawberries I planted last year survived the winter and are greening up - maybe some fresh berries in June?  There is nothing like fresh strawberries - the ones in the grocery store do not hold a candle to one that is grown and picked ripe.  Yum!  My youngest brother was born in June and we almost always had fresh strawberries out of my folks' garden for his birthday dinner.

Another work week starting tomorrow.  Got a lot to do, but, you know, I don't think I'll be as busy with year end work as I have been in the past.  I sorta put my foot down last April/May when I was just nuts with evaluations - and this year, people have actually listened to me!  It promises to be a less stressful year end.  It seems that we are seeing more mental health issues with younger children than we have in the past.  Don't know for sure what's up with that.  A parent contacted a mental health provider about her young student and after an initial meeting the provider "diagnosed" the student with schizophrenia. I advised the parent to run, not walk to another provider - schizophrenia is not diagnosed usually until teenage years and this student is not anywhere near that in age.  Rarely it can be seen in children, very rarely, and this student, although I'm not a doctor, is not schizophrenic.  So along with increased mental health issues, we have providers who do not give correct info to concerned parents.

Word for the day:
Jugum n.  A yoke for cattle.  Also a metaphorical expression for the yoke imposed by Roman rule over its conquered peoples.   When you come home from the end of a long day and your spouse says, "How was your day?"  you can reply, "Fine just fine, once I get (fill in the blank with your employer   's jugum off of me."