Review, Revision, Edit and Update:Being with Samuel and Dez in the garden is a nice place to be. I'd just like some of his tomatoes!
There were a few typos and misspellings that I fixed. Some of the wording needed rearranging, and in some cases, beefing up, but other than that this Episode was fairly well written.
It also indicated questions yet to be answered - were the apples ever picked? Was the tomato crop as pleasing to Elizabeth (Cook) as Samuel thought? Does Dez feel more confident in her role as Project Manager?
Right Timin'
“Samuel! Samuel!” He heard his name being called but had to stand up to see who it was. “Mz Dez. What’re you up to now?”.... She’s got that tablet thing with her……….“Over here Mz Dez.” Samuel waved his straw hat.
Dez was of breath, hurrying from house to garden. “Samuel. I’m glad I found you. I’ve made so many mistakes already with the orchard and with my plans for beehives. I need to talk to you and I need to talk to Digby so I don’t make things worse. I thought it would be easy to just get bees in here and pick apples, but………” Dez was out of breath, she’d been running and talking at the same time.
“Just settle, Mz Dez. Trees growin’ just fine. Bees'll be comin’ along when it’s time.” Samuel didn’t know what to do with a panicky woman. Elizabeth never gave him a lick of trouble. He’d see what he could do.
“But that’s just it. I ordered the bees too soon! We don’t have beehives for them and it’s too late in the year to get them started. Does the time of year make a difference? If they come, can’t we just store them somewhere.” Dez was pretty frantic. She had wanted so much to do a good job of Project Manager for the Emmie's orchard and an apiary on the Beaufort Estate. She had soon learned that she was out of her depth with the little she knew. Matt wasn’t able to spend as much time as both of them had planned. To help her out, he told her about seminars and classes available to her at the university and at the local community centre. Once she started them, she learned that spring was the best time for starting a beehive. It was already almost July. She and Samuel hadn’t finished building the beehives.
“Mz Dez. C’mere. Let’s sit. Whyn’t you just call up the bee company? Stop yer order.” Samuel was patient with Dez. For a grown woman, she sure does get all panicky.
Dez was almost in tears. “Samuel I’m not ready for the apple harvest either………..I’m going to stop bothering you with all my worries. Guess I was afraid I’d disappoint Emmie. She put me in charge of the orchard and I talked her into the bees, and I’m not doing either very quickly.”
“Mind if I have a pipe, Mz. Dez?” It was a little early for his noon time pipe, but that pipe in his mouth always calmed Samuel. He sat back in his chair, face up to the sun. “Seems to me that all these growin’ things have their own time. Just never been able to hurry ‘em up.”
The breeze stilled. The sun shone warm. Except for one crow croaking it’s warnings, not a bird was chirping. A wandering swallow-tail butterfly fluttered past lighting on a wild flower at the edge of the garden. Dez relaxed. Her face up to the sun. Slowly plans filtered down on its rays.
Cancel the order for bees until spring. See if Digby has information about the varieties of apples in the orchard. Finish the beehives and get them set up. That’s what’s different. It’s the timing. Bees and trees have their own schedules. “Thanks, Samuel. You always give me good direction.” I need to get a straw hat like Samuel. No pipe though. Dez was learning.
“Every flower blooms at its own pace.”
~ Suzy Kassem, Rise Up and Salute the Sun:
The Writings of Suzy Kassem
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