When Life Hands You Mint--Make Mojitos!

Five years ago we moved into our house and one of the things that swayed our purchase decision was the size of the property--nine-tenths of an acre. There are times when I suspect we bit off more than we can chew.

These grounds have a life of their own. Oh, we attempt to show them who is the boss and whip them into order, but they laugh at us and go right on proliferating their weeds and dropping their leaves and sending their thorny shoots everywhere.

And then there is the mint. At first I loved the mint, but then it took over a little garden plot and I was forced to do fierce battle with it. I ruthlessly cleared the whole lot of it. For a few moments I felt guilty, and I bore the smell of my murderous assault with shame.

Well. Do not spend too much time mourning the loss of the mint, as it has had the last laugh. This year it has sneakily sprung up from between the cracks of a brick landing around our deck. It stands tall and proud, and vibrantly healthy. And I did what any reasonably sane person would do. I surrendered; then plucked a few leaves and made mojitos.

A word about mojitos. I had had one once and hated it. It tasted like a very sweet toothpasty medicine. But I had a bunch of mint and a bunch of limes and a desire to make a beautiful marriage between the two. And I discovered it's like all marriages--the key is balance. You must achieve the perfect blend between the intensely sweet simple syrup, the sour limes and the, well, minty mint. And then, like all marriages, it takes some muddling. But it's worth the effort.

Playing Catch Up

You remember the trailer to the Flintstone's where Fred is desperately running on the treadmill? Well, that's what I feel like life is like. Sometimes the treadmill is turned on low and it isn't difficult to keep up, but other times it is switched on hyper drive.

I think there are some people that thrive on being busy. They love the activity level of scurrying around from here to there. I am not one of those people. I like long unbroken periods of quiet, reflective time. I am drawn to houses with those wide, covered porches. I picture afternoons reading and evenings chatting with friends and family with a glass of fresh lemonade or wine or hot chocolate.

So I am doing my best right now not to get flung off the treadmill and so far I am succeeding, although things like a blog post keeps getting shuffled to the bottom of the to-do list.

Quick update: Had a very brief but enjoyable trip to Oahu. Waikiki was too populated for me and traffic was intense, but a much more peaceful feeling was reached outside of the main cities.
Five airports later arrived in Albuquerque for a wedding and catching up with family. It was great to see everyone.

Now it's our turn to host family for our daughter's wedding and I am having to keep and update lists and jog with occasional bursts of outright running lest I go sailing. But at least I have a porch (albeit narrow) and a chilling bottle of wine. Cheers.