2017 Recaped
Oh, what a year…
2017 turned out to be…
A freeze and heat and in between…
As I reflect, it was a year…
What did you think of my Four Seasons “December 1963” impression? Not bad for being not musically talented. Every year thousands of people claim the past year was a year to remember. Well, 2017 at Boxes in Fields was most definitely a year to remember. A year to remember for years to come. Years… This happened and that happened. Things happened that will never happen again. Things happened I hope never happen again.
And to think it all started off so great. Productive even. The first day of the new year the footprint for the Shop box was laid out. Day six into the new year and it froze. And not a light freeze, gone by mid-morning freeze. Nope. This was a true to Texas weather freeze. It lasted hours and hours and hours. Not quite 24 hours. But close. Hey, this is Texas, South Texas. Freezes are a deal. January closed out with all ten Shop box footings completed and all of the citrus trees completely unrecoverable. The freeze was just too much.
With death comes life. And since I don’t have citrus plants to care for, February brought peepers. Ten little fluffy butts. They were the cutest things ever. EVER. Do you know what the fluffiest of fluffs represent? New birth. And what else is needed for rebirth in nature? Rain. And so it rained and it rained and rained. Rain soaked grounds for weeks on end made working on the framework impossible. To keep with our productive new year, instead of building framework we built a peeper coop. Good thing we started early because it took all month to build this fortress de fluffer butts.
Spring sprang with wildflowers, new pot plants, and a garden. Like February, March started and ended sunny but was a wet soggy mess in the middle. Chicken feet and shoes, truck and beep-beep all were stuck in the mud. Wooden walkways used to avoid mud sank and became stuck too. Yet through the mess, progress was made. The Shop Box support beams were installed, sandblasted, and painted.
Much to the seasonal limerick, April did not have showers but it did have Goldilocks weather. It was too hot or too windy. It was just right. With the dry weather, there was plenty of time for work. There was a chicken liberation, a Conex slide (as it turns out I am not designed for this kinda stress), and a party crashing, free-roaming rooster who decided to call Boxes in Fields home. The view from the top of the first Conex box was just amazing. If you listen closely you can already hear the spring winds building.
Without April showers there were no May gardens. The once vibrant garden died a painful death. First, there were gophers, then there was wind. Oh, the wind. How quickly it went from a gentle breeze to a spring gale. Ok, maybe that is extreme. But they were 15-20mph with gust to 30. Between the two, the plants did not stand a change. Walls were removed from the second Conex box, the two boxes were slid together, a 40′ beam was installed to provide support, and the man door opening was cut.
May end and June began with yet again more rain. June in retrospect was a slow month. Lots of little things were done but nothing major. As pictures are reviewed, the most notable events were the Kid going to grandmas and the peppers laying their first eggs. Huh, June seemed busy at the time.
Summers remaining weeks of July and August blew by. The Shop Box had window frames and hatches installed. An outside shower was installed and relished. Summer camps were attended so the Kid could enjoy some air conditioner while the Planner worked in the hot summer sun. Chickens rapidly increased their egg production, outgrew their gallon water bottle feeding system, and developed into their unique personalities. Work was steady in order to prepare for our week-long vacation to see the solar eclipse in Casper WY.
A vacation! Or not…
Yup, summer blew by. In fact in blew by with a 150mph wind. Hurricane Harvey, what else is there to say. To recap the bad: trees were stripped of every single leaf, the Doubter’s trailer was smashed into trees, and we were forced to live elsewhere for a few weeks. To recap the good: the Rainstream was not lost because it was moveable, the Shop boxes held to design specification, and all 11 chickens survived.
August rolled into September and Boxes in Fields was still squatting elsewhere. When in town we cleaned or helped others clean. Just because Harvey was rude does not mean we need to be rude to others. Everybody suffered physically, emotionally, and mentally. Damn you Harvey.
By the second week of October, Boxes in Fields finally moved home and attempted to beautify the landscape while simultaneously working on the Kid’s Box. While the trees and plants were making remarkable comebacks, sometimes an immediate splash of color adds the cheer needed. Many plants were bought from the local plant store who suffered considerably. The plants were wind burnt and battered. To save complete loss, they were on sale. All of the new plants were bought from them expect two olive trees. Native to south Texas, I stole these saplings from the Doubter’s cattle pens. Covered and grown in cow fertilizer, they should adapt well. Surprisingly, October came and went quickly.
Monarchs and hummingbirds come in November to enjoy the late flowering plants. They were bright orange against light green foliage. There were more this year than in previous years. They were beautiful. For being a busy month all that really happened was the Kid Box was completed and the Work Box was started. Oh, and the Kid turned double digits. How quickly time flies just like these beautiful monarchs. In abundance at the beginning of the month, long gone and only a memory by month end. With them, they took the last bits of color too.
Who knew the lack of color could be so beautiful. White, the absence of color. December started in a flurry. White flurries to be exact. December ended in frost. Well ice, well freeze, well frost. Well it doesn’t matter because it ended. What an amazing year.