oak tree circle

We had some grass left over from the cage project.  We're not sure but we think it's possible it's not dead yet.  So we put as much as was left in the oak tree circle. 

We Cast a Shadow (2018) Maurice Carlos Ruffin

Story set in the near future in Louisiana about an African American attorney, married to a white woman, who worries his son is too black.  Louisiana in the future is more racist than the present and so he tries to make his son white through surgical procedures.  The Dad is a mixed character. You think he's doing the best you can, and then you question it.

It's an interesting story told from an interesting perspective.

cage update

Today is the first day that we've been in to use the cage for baseball since we installed the grass.  First, Taoster and I smoothed over some of the rough spots. We put in the soil under the grass where it was popped up.  Then I wiffleballed with James for about an hour.  He did wear his cleats but mostly went straight through to the batter's box.  We hope to bring in the machine next week.

James has been drafted by the Central Altadena Coast Dodgers and had his first practice today.

Spring training has started and we are in full on baseball mode.

A Place of My Own (1997) Michael Pollan

This is an account of foodie journalist/ author Michael Pollan's construction of a studio on his property.  It is an interesting take on carpentry and architecture and encouraging to know that overly educated people can build things too.

Run Forever (2018) Amby Burfoot

This is basically a "how to run" book written by a former marathoner and former editor of Runner's World.  He's very good practical suggestions that boil down to: don't get discouraged; count the minutes but don't look at the clock; don't worry about your speed; think long term.  The reason I have a minutes chart now is because of him.   This is a good read.

Installation of grass in the cage

When we moved into our house, it had a nice green lawn.  Nice as it was, we were philosophically opposed to the very concept of lawns.  So we killed it and planted vegetables and fruit trees.  We went from suburbia to a cross between Little House on the Prairie and Gilligan's Island.

But we carved out an area for our very talented son to practice batting and ordered a cage on amazon and built it up.  We could not put in vegetables, nor fruit trees, and were still against grass.  So we had a dirt and weed cage....

It's not that we're against dirt.  We love dirt.  But we don't love it on our clothes and in our home, which is where it ended up all too frequently.

So a couple weeks ago we went out to a wholesaler in Camarillo and ordered 580 sq.ft. of Bermuda (baseball) sod and an installation kit.  To meet some of our objections to grass, we got a good drought tolerant blend and decided to water with drip irrigation.  Drip irrigation is installed under the grass and uses a lot less water than sprinklers.

After a good rain, Taoster and I got out all the weeds and clovers (my bright idea to plant clovers as a substitute to grass) and smoothed out the dirt as best we can.  Then she planned out the irrigation system, got the pipes, connected them and put them in. So in the picture below, which was taken a day or two before installation, you can see the black pipes running the length of the cage which are spaced about 13" apart...

The company delivered the sod and soil prep at 6:45am Friday morning, 02/01/2019  The guy brought it on a big truck and couldn't find a parking spot by our home.  So he parked far away and brought it over on a forklift, and put it in our driveway.  The stuff came with instructions to install that day or it will likely be damaged. 

It had rained the day before delivery day, so the ground was good wet, as we needed to be.  Taoster and I spent the better part of the morning and early afternoon moving to the backyard and then installing.  I did the unskilled work of moving it back and Taoster cut the pieces, if necessary, and placed them in neat rows in the cage.


So this is the cage post-installation....

Today, 02/02/2019, the day after installation, we've gotten a good drenching, about 3-4 inches of rain.  Nature has, so far, kept our soil squishy, which is how it needs be for 10 days for it to become established.