January 12, 2004 - From Ms. Mary to friends:
When I arrived home at 6:15 pm, I saw there were notes on the apartment doors to notify us of something or other. Well, guess what? The note says that TOMORROW they are going to wash the building and paint it so we need to clear off all patios and walkways. Excuse me. You expect me to move ALL my plants inside? If I had had room in my apartment, I wouldn't have put the plants outside in the first place!
So I decided I'd bring in the folding chair and the plastic shelving and the storage bin, but the plants would have to take their chances. After talking to a friend and hearing what pressure washing would do to my plants, I started having second thoughts. I have been caring for a lot of these for over a year, and they have helped preserve my sanity during the past several months. So by 9:30 I had talked myself into moving the patio plants out on the cement by the pool and moving the front walkway plants out onto the cement slab in front of the barbecue grill. It took me an hour and a half to carry and/or drag all the pots to their temporary places and sweep off the furniture and pile it inside the patio door. I worked so hard that I look like a kid who played in the dirt and then ran through the sprinkler a few times. And I am going to have some sore muscles in the morning. But the good news is that all the plants are safely out of the way of the washers and painters. I just hope nobody decides to _borrow_ some before I get them safely back where they belong.
And the note doesn't even say what color they are going to paint the place . . . just that they hope we like the color. What if I don't like the new color?