Loose Ends
Finding my talents
Susan Nienow

Some of us are naturally coordinated, and some of us just hope we don't get hit with the ball. Each year, I can cross off several more things for which I have no particular skills or talent. This year, I added growing anything from seed and embellishing clothes. I can probably include tennis, but I refuse to quit.

I had a rush of gardening fever in February and March that resulted in the purchase of many packets of seeds. All had pictures of healthy, hearty plants on the front and easy instructions on the back. The first batch I planted in trays indoors and covered the area in front of my office windows with the promise of green.

That became a process of elimination. When the little pots showed sprouts, I realized that the skill was watering. Sprouts fall over and don't get back up when the growing mix (that's what it said on the package) gets dry. And they don't like to float either. So every few days I "weeded" out the, uh, dead.

I was busy when they should have been moved to bigger pots or protected places in the garden, so I put them out on the deck with instructions to sink or swim. Of the three trays of seeds - my other half says four, but I can only recall three - I have three little grasses growing in one bed, two annuals called four o'clocks and some marigolds. Oh - and three or four (one might be a weed) moon vines. Total cost: about $38.

The grasses are perennials and, if they survive the winter at two inches high, will be worth the $2.25 cost of the seed. The annuals are supposed to be self-seeding so I may be able to enjoy them next year. But I have new respect for the growers and don't plan to buy anything smaller than a six-inch pot in the future.

Three years ago, I bought three cotton/linen shirts (for almost nothing) that I planned to "embellish" with paint or embroidery, buttons or other enhancements. So, I have been collecting things that some would consider enhancements but my other half calls "junky little things."

After hanging in my closet for three years, they needed washing - a little dusty. So I washed and ironed them and got out my embellishing stuff - glitter paint, embroidered stars and flowers - and gave up. They went in the charity drop-pile.

I need a new goal. My other half has several unsolicited suggestions like organizing my desk. It drives him nuts that the top is not visible under all of the piles. I reminded him, "It's my desk."

I need something ego-building. Judging by the number of "learn how to pat yourself on the back for lasting results" books and magazine articles, I am overdue. A suggestion to take up paint-by-numbers came from the other room and was ignored. But I am getting pretty good at watering the garden.