Show Section Monday Aug 12 2002 Page! The Herald Journa Don’t mess with my feng shui m By Krtly Davit A a single mother who works full time I am always look- ing for anything that will lighten the “85 things to do today” list When I get home from work die last thing I want to do is vacuum something or snub something else Unfortunately I like things to be clean and have even been accused of being a teensy bit compulsive One friend even said he was surprised that I don’t get out a tape measure and string when I’m lining up patio furniture Anyway in order to ease the bur- -' den of housecleaning I arranged to have housecleaners come twice 4 month This arrangement was working perfectly until one time when they came and I was at home sick Do not get me wrong I am sure they were doing a perfectly accept-r' r 8ple jOO it just was not By Mika Ingraham features writer ummertime and the living is easy and going to get easier for Charles Adam of Hyde Park He’ll soon have room service Tomatoes will be spilling right through his bedroom window The bedroom is 1 1 feet off the ground but that’s okay The tomatoes are peeking in already ' and rising up like Jack’s beanstalk Until the tomatoes tumble in Adam will be scampering up ladders and crawling around on his — "XQ"T £X’ 'hi 4‘ 11 the “right way” They ' woe J : : IS- - :'x-fr- He has 4 been harvesting since June and has pZfyr vacu- uming the room in the wrong already pat-to- n! Left- - given away side-to-rig- ht instead of t! They were putting the pillows on the sofas in the wrong order! They were cleaning the bathroom floor before they did the toi- lets! I had to wall myself in my bedroom and put the pillows over my head but even then I could hear them vacuuming my son’s room upstairs in yet another incorrect pattern! The window area should be first not last! It was torture I am now convinced that the housecleaners are upsetting the feng shui in my house Not thafl am ' really sure what feng shui is but I think it has to do with the “energy” in your house and how that might relate to where the sofa cushions are placed Because of the houseclean- ers I probably have all the wrong ' energy and that explains why I am the way I am Heh heh this is beside the point but whenever I see a book on feng shui in the bookstore I step back look at the book critically step for-ward move it slightly to the left step back again look at it and nod appreciatively and go on Not that many people get die joke but I think I am funny If you think I am compulsive you should see my mother She cleans her house the day before her comes because she is afraid die cleaner will think she is messy The cleaning company1 my mother used to use was called Emerald Duck Cleaning She and my father now just refer to the cleaner (any since die Emerald Duck Company was three cleaners ago) as “The Duck” It is not unusual for my mother to say “I can’t talk right now I am cleaning the house because The Puck comes tomor- right-to-lef- ’ KaSy DuBoto Davis la Mng In SmShlWd makeup “I grew my first tomato after 1 was And before that you grew Mitch MaacaroHarald Journal Charles Adam of Hyde Park takes to a ladder to inspect tomato vines rising towards his roof The vines are tall the tomatoes are wide — he’s had rs Charles Adam says there’s no big secret to growing his ki Igr tomatoes but their beholders are in awe I c toma-- 4 toes “I have v only so s 75” “Nothing” Now at 84 Adam seems to be ripening right along with the tomatoes He’s back at the piano again the firsttime he’s played since his wife Betty passed away three years ago “It never was fun after that” he says then quickly adds “I never could play well” Adam is modest — dapper but nevertheless preferring to be photographed from the back He eats tomatoes in slices by themselves no fuss The first thing you see in his yard is a greenhouse and the first thing you hear is that “I've got some dying plants in there I neglect it a lot” When he talks about tomatoes he says more than once “If it was complicated I couldn’t do it” Indeed he makes it as uncomplicated as possible throwing on whatever fertilizer comes to hand and not bothering with the soil at least until now Adam has nothing against talking to tomatoes Anything that brings you closer to them is good See GIANTS on CIO Son chooses ‘rugged individualist’ flowers By Robert KIom The Christian Science Monitor and handed it to me In Russian he remarked “Its beautiful qpd it’s for ' you”:That was back in November I had to wait seven long months until my garden here in Maine came to flower to see what attraction it might have for him I watched as Anton smelled the blossoms of the cranberry and ran his' small hands over the shocking blue of die phlox He smiled and laughed and com- iriented and I thought'”Ah maybe jbst maybe ” “nton” I noised “would you likfc to have your own garaen7” His response was immedi- ate communicated with A clapping and cheering that confinned the omen of die Ukrainian wildfloWer he had picked for me We didn’t waste any time in locating a garden spot for him We grabbed a passe! of tools from the shed and splayed them hut on the un worked ground Then side by side we labored away Anton' proved himself to be a real work-hore struggling withthe tools yet refusing to permit me to lend a hand Gardening solo is a -- I have long maintained a small but intense flower garden on die incline of the riverbank behind my home in Maine Dwarf cranberry bee balm creeping phlox and a variety of sedumshave aU done well there V soaking up the eastern sun at break of day and reposing in die shade as the afternoon advances Gardening for my son held n6 ii appeal although he assured me that he was happy that I enjoyed it And so 1 continued to while away ipy r time in the garden s a solitary pur- suit dutifully accepting die fact that this would be one interest I would - ' notbe’pasSingontomysoh Recently however I Adopted a 'second aim d boy from' Ukraine I couldn’t tell you what exactly it was about Anton that drew um to nm when I found him in a l small orphanage on die shores of the Black Sea But I like to dunk it was themoment when we were out for a little walk dun he readied down plucked a small yellow wildflower - " i a JrJ his window Bring ’em on Adam says He's got lost time to ! going jf more than 50 much energy” Adam says and it appears that the tomatoes will take all of it They are multiplying red and green balloons bobbing everywhere in the green cascade beneath t Also since my parents live alone together The Duck is a convenient scapegoat for when things are mis- -' placed Last month The Duck lost the TV remote control which really upset my dad The Duck also lose his keys quite often Like my cleaners The Duck also puts pillows in the wrong place my mother says but so far she has not been brave enough to be at home when The t Duck is thefe1 think she knqws she Wiki not be able tp survive watching The Duck vacuum die stairs V frmn the bottom up rather than the top down Frankly knowing herself so well If home sick she cancels The Duck without a second thought She dobs - this without even knowing that her Peng Shui is probably being messed with on a regular basis andlsm to do her a fevdr and not tell 1 ‘ house-clean- er row Y'V 2 : 99 :t ' vr technical 1 - snow-whi- te : v - se man-siz- pleasure therapeutic and deep But I soon discovered that gardening with a companion —f especially one brimming yith such enthusiasm— peally quickened the blood We eventually cleared and turned a small patch of black earth' “Now for the flowers”' I announced I took Anton to my flower beds and asked him which ones he wanted to trans-plaHe immediately shook his head as ifhe had already thought this out “Would you rather buy your own flowers?” I offered This time he whined “Then which flowers do i yob want?” ! asked Anton put a finger to his lip drew qn impish smile and then took me by the hand He walked me along the riverbank and began to point to ' the wildflowers in bloom thereVBiit those are just weeds” I told him wifh note of disdain Anton began to pout “But L want them” he said Suddenly it wax as if the scales had fallen from my eyes All of these ' “weeds” were varieties I had long esteemed for volunteering to grow along die river The delicate with their explosive seed- ’ nt - touch-me-no- ts weed pods the tall and plnkjoe-py- e on which monarch butterflies feed the diminutive with its climactic cluster of red ' berries cardinal flower (nature’s reddest red) and the qodding bjue bonhets of the harebell ' Without another word I assented and Aliton helped as we transplanted some of these specimens to his own ' 'i plot’ : Together we dug and ananjged until an hour later we had a juxta- position of ‘‘weeds” that was new and striking As for Anton he was beside himself to the oint where hie swept his hand over the scene and ' exclaimed “Just like yours Dad!” Not quite I was inclined to think thiaf Anton’s garden was better My flowers needed cultivating feeding and general pampering while Anton's were rugged individualists - who had come ashore under their X own steam From the seedpods of : the to the berries of the to the leftover wisps of Queen Anne's lace we had a lot to look forward to '1 1 i touch-me-no- ts its ‘ |