Gone But Not Forgotten...

I did something different this year, and I think it's going to work out well.

We have some really big potted plants in our rooftop garden that have to come in for the winter. Namely: the bougainvillea (just ignore the Green Bay Packers fan in the foreground), the bottlebrush plant, and a rather large hibiscus. Over the past couple of years, I've brought these plants into the apartment where they've proceeded to drop a bunch of their leaves for the sole purpose that King can bat them around all night causing me great annoyance.

The plants survive the winter OK in the apartment, but they pretty much look like they're barely clinging on to life when I return them to the rooftop in the spring. Yeah, they bounce back. But, for example, the bougainvillea doesn't begin blooming until about July 1st. The bottlebrush plant, which normally blooms at the end of May, began blooming in September this year.

I'm a greedy gardener - I want to maximize bloom-time.

So...

This year, thanks to our friend Dr. (pharmacology) Rammy, our plants will bask the whole winter in summer-like warmth in a greenhouse. She arranged for her gardening service to come pick up our plants this week, and they were whisked away at 8:00 a.m. this past Wednesday morning.

As my babies sped away down the road in the Alabor trailer, I felt a twinge of sadness...and happiness.

For how many more summers will I enjoy their blooms?

Mixed emotions...

Update later: I just noticed that on the first glance of this post that it appears as if I am eulogizing Dr. (entomology) John. Let it be known: DR. JOHN IS NOT DEAD!!! Although, he is a Green Bay Packers fan. And that, in my opinion, officially qualifies him as disabled.

The Bug Doctor

Our old neighbor, entomologist/"bug doctor" Dr. John (not to be confused with the current, neuroscientist Dr. John) came into Basel on business for one night, and one night only. I hadn't seen him since I met him in Amsterdam nearly three years ago, and Mrs. TBF hadn't seen him in about four years.

John the Bug Doctor and his family moved from Basel back to the U.S. about five years ago. Except for the fact that Mrs. TBF and I are both significantly lighter than we were back then, we live in a new apartment, and Dr. John has a new hip (modeling his scar here with our friend Dr. - of chemical engineering - Andy), it seemed just like old times when we got together.

Sure, Dr. John still refuses to stop living in the glory days of the 60s and 90s Packers (face it...Favre is gone and NOT coming back!), but that didn't stop us from having a nice dinner, drinking a few beers, and talking about things past, present, and future.

He has another trip to Basel scheduled for the end of the year.

Double Dr. John Party?

Dear Dr. John:

I have this friend named Dr. John. He used to live right down the street from us in Reinach a few years back. This Dr. John is not to be confused with the other Dr. John who currently lives a couple of kilometers from us. The Dr. John I'm writing about today is American, and he's a doctor of entomology. The other Dr. John is British, and he's a doctor of neuroscience...I think (we know a lot of doctors and I get their fields of study confused).

American Dr. John grew up in Wisconsin, and that means he grew up as a Green Bay Packers fan. I grew up in Chicago, and that would make me a Chicago Bears fan. Up until this past weekend, the Packers were 4 - 0, and the Bears were 1 - 3 (got off to a slow start). Of course, I was man enough to call Dr. John just over a week ago to congratulate him on the Packers' surprisingly good start even though, as a Bears fan, I loathe the Packers with every fiber in my body.

This past Sunday night, the Bears traveled up to Green Bay to face Brett Favre and the Packers, and...you guessed it...THE BEARS HUMILIATED THE PACKERS ON THEIR HOME FIELD.

Oh...I'm happy. I'M VERY HAPPY!!! The only thing (along with defiling Brett Favre and gloating) that will make me happier is if the Bears beat the Packers again when they meet in Chicago later this season. Who cares about the Super Bowl? As far as I'm concerned, beating the Packers is my Super Bowl.

American Dr. John (who once saw Brett Favre at a bar eating a burger and fries, waited for him to leave, then went and sat in his seat and ate his leftover fries) has been uncharacteristically silent...

I'm sure that some Wisconsinites with big foreheads and bad mustaches will try to get their husbands to try to beat me up with their stupid cheesehead hats...and that's OK. You know where to find me...

I live in Basel, Switzerland...

That's in Europe...

Just ask a person from Illinois to show you where Europe is on a map!

Updated later (8:30 p.m.)

Here's what American Dr. John wrote in an e-mail:

Oh, that is sooooooo wrong.

I still can't figure out how to post comments at your blog - please send directions, because I need to defend myself in front of the blog community.