I Broke a Fingernail!

I broke a fingernail working in the garden. I always start out wearing my Martha Stewart garden gloves, but it's not long that I will remove at least one of the gloves. I not only get to really pull on the weeds, but I manage to get dirty hands and fingernails. I wear one of my late father's long-sleeved shirts, but sometimes still manage to get my arms scratched from the tree branches or the bougainvilleas.

 

  

 

This time of year is the best of times and the worst of times (to plagiarize Dickens) in my garden. It is the best because the rose bushes have come back after getting a severe pruning in January; the nasturtiums faithfully return without much attention; and most of the almond tree blossoms have fallen and the crop looks promising.


It is the worst of time because my eyes itch and water; my nose gets drippy; and Benadryl makes me sleepy. I think I will try some other allergy remedy. Today’s paper had coupons for both Zyrtec and Benadryl. I might give Zyrtec a chance.


Getting back to my fingernail, though, reminded of being told not to trim my nails on Sunday. I don’t remember what the dire consequences would be, but Mom and grandmas stuck by the custom. I think something embarrassing might occur if we committed the sin of trimming our nails!


That got me to thinking of another “don’t” that I remember hearing, “En martes no te cases ni te embarques.” --telling one not to marry or to embark on a Tuesday. The embark part is somewhat ambiguous, but it was usually meant not to start a trip, but it can also mean not to begin a business or some enterprise. So I guess if one can’t get going on Monday, one has to wait until Wednesday?


I remember being told that if I had to scratch one of my hands, it was better to have the itch on the left hand. That meant that I was to come into some money. But, if I had to scratch my right hand that meant that I was going to be shaking someone’s hand. How long I would have to wait for the money or the shaking of hands was never divulged, and I never bothered to ask—just like I never questioned why I could not trim my nails on a Sunday. However, I have already trimmed the rest of my fingernails--too much of the garden dirt under them!