I came back from France feeling a strong desire to do more.

So when better to start than last Monday?

The Thermals were playing for two nights at Bottom of the Hill, and tickets were still available the first night. So only a day after returning (not yet caught up on sleep, let alone jetlag), I was out late at a show. And it was a great show. Go see The Thermals. They completely rock.

Apparently I paid for my enthusiasm by getting a cold, which has been dogging me since then. At least now I can say I’ve learned how to treat the symptoms to ensure a full night’s sleep: extra-strength cough syrup.

But that didn’t stop me from starting a second project: planting some basil seeds. Spring is approaching, and all throughout America little rotating displays of seeds have popped up in drug and convenience stores—for the green and the not-so-green-thumbed among us.

I bought some sweet basil seeds awhile ago, with visions of making my homemade (and deconstructed) pesto a little more homemade. Next step would probably involve planting a pine tree.

I remember a friend who used to have a basil bush, so I figured that’d be a painless reintroduction to the world of putting seeds in dirt so they grow.

And Sunday one poked its little head out of the soil. By the end of the day we had three more lil’ babies.