ON THE ROAD--II
(Saturday)


Harry (above) loves windows and spends most of the night sleeping in a windowsill in my father's bedroom. In the early morning hours, Harry comes to check on me, jumping onto the bed to investigate, leaping into the nearby windowsill, and jumping back onto the bed for attention.


Saturday is a sunny, breezy day, perfect for walking downtown along the lakefront. I've asked the Soap Opera to set aside fifteen bars of Tallba soap. I can't find this Swedish, pine-scented soap where SJG and I live, even though our part of the world was settled by Scandinavians.


After we pick up the soap, my father and I drive into the country to
the Flower Factory. This nursery offers more than four thousand varieties of hardy perennials. I love the drive through the rolling hills of southeastern Wisconsin and have filled my gardens at home with Flower Factory plants. On this visit, I choose deep red Asiatic lilies, to pair with purple Veronica, and maltese cross (Lychnis chalcedonica) in a variety of colors, placement to be determined.


My father waits for me in a shady display garden. It's a quiet day at the nursery, and we sit together on a bench holding hands and watching the hummingbirds at the feeders.


Dark clouds roll in, bringing heavy rain and high winds. We race to the nearest hoop house to wait out the storm. When the skies clear, it's time to go home. Filets mignons await us there.