#2952 a whole lot of Garden time

 

Those first five months slipped by pretty quickly, didn't they? Here we are in June already! These last four days in particular have been full.

My concert season at Red Butte Garden started on Thursday the 29th. I worked at the recycle station for the Trampled by Turtles concert. They are an RBG staple, a bluegrass band that puts on a good show. It was the first time I'd seen/heard them, and I thought it was fun. It was a long day for me, though, because I worked in the office and went straight to the venue from work, so I didn't get home until late. 

Friday morning I was in slow motion, but got my groove back in the afternoon. After work that night  I went to RBG to record blooms in the Children's Garden. It always amazes me how the garden changes week to week. Last time I recorded blooms, on the 23rd, it took me about 90 minutes or so to go all through the CG. This Friday, it took well over two hours to record all the blooms. I enjoy going there in the evenings. The light is so pretty, it's a bit cooler, and there are fewer people, too. 

Guess where I went on Saturday? Yep, back up to the Garden! My sister-in-law Janet was in town to pick up her bestie Tracy from the who came to visit from Austin, TX. Those two have been friends since first grade. I think that's remarkable and awesome. They wanted to go to RBG, and I was happy to show them around. We covered every inch of the cultivated garden that we could. It was a hot day, too, with temps in the upper 80s/low 90s. It was fun to experience the Garden through the eyes of people who had never been there. They each took so many photos! We spent a good couple of hours walking around, then we went to Hog Wallow Pub to have a drink and a snack before they headed to Pocatello.

Saturday night MT, T, and I went to 'Bout Time Pub to watch Game 6 of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals. The game was close while we were there, but the Indiana Pacers wound up clobbering the New York Knicks to wrap up the series and advance to the Finals where they will play the Oklahoma City Thunder. I don't have a lot of passion for either team; what I do like is that these two teams are not the same old teams that are always in the Finals. I think that's good for the sport.

Today is Sunday, so of course I was back up at the Garden this morning for my regular docent shift. It was so hot today! It was already in the upper 70s at 9:30 this morning, and in the low 90s when I left at 1:00. The air was dry and still  There weren't many guests there today, either, so it felt kind of slow. A fun thing I'll mention is that the Garden is closed tomorrow and Tuesday because Antiques Roadshow will be filming an episode at Red Butte Garden! The concert crews were already working on getting areas set up all around the Garden. RBG volunteers won't be used but PBS Utah volunteers will be working, and my friend Liz is one of those volunteers. She said she is excited to be part of it. 

When I got home I took a shower to cool off, made some tacos, and I've been sitting here at my desk messing around with the bookkeeping, my planner, and doing a little art. In May I didn't make much art, I'm sorry to say. This month I will be more intentional about taking the time to be creative.

This morning I was listening to something and one of the messages was that there isn't really any balance in the day-to-day activities as much as there is balancing. Every day is a bit different, and balancing what needs to be done with what I'd like to get done is what is at issue. I feel like in May the balance was way more to the what-needs-to-be-done side with a healthy dose of straight-up time wasting (I played a lot of games on my phone.) I need to keep in mind the question, "Is what I'm doing right now an example of how I want to spend my time?"  It's just that playing games on my beloved iPhone is so mind-numbing and easy, and sometimes I need that, too.

Looking forward to this first week of June, I've got some stuff coming up. I've got a dentist appointment on Wednesday. Thursday is my birthday. I'll likely record blooms on Friday. Saturday I'd like to stay home and relax because Sunday I have a double shift at the Garden. That morning I will docent, then that evening I will do cleanup at a concert. The artist is Ryan Bingham. He is the singing cowboy on the show Yellowstone.

Here's hoping you have a week of fun and successful balancing. I will leave you with this pic I took at the Garden this morning. The pots in the Courtyard have been changed since last week and now we have succulents. It will be fun to see how they grow during the summer.