toward my judgeship

It was late on a Friday night, and I was scrambling to make sure that I had what I needed in order to take the ADS' online garden judging workshop in the morning. This would be Workshop I -- one of two workshops that are required in order to be certified as a judge.

I had registered that morning before going about my day, figuring that I would -- later -- quickly check what I needed and make sure I was set. ANd when I went to make sure I was set? That's when I learned that I'd need a copy of Judging Daylilies in the Garden. OK. No problem. It's a free download from the ADS website. But to download it I have to have my ID and PIN -- and I never registered on the ADS website because (until now) I've only used it for things that are available to anyone.

So, frantic emails and texts to friends follow, as I try to find someone who has the electronic version of the book and can send it to me. I hereby apologize to those club members whom I woke up. Eventually, someone sent me a copy, so I was set.

Now, having said all that, I should acknowledge that the fault was my own. We had had plenty of notice about the workshop. It was weeks before that LIDS members got the first email notice. But I procrastinated. And every day I said I'd deal with it "tomorrow." Until I ran out of tomorrows. So the first lesson I learned from the workshop is that I should register for things like this as soon as possible because there will be some unexpected complication.

The workshop itself was an interesting educational experience. There were about 20 of us, spread out across the country, joined by Webex. For about two hours, Michael Bouman educated us about daylily history, the relationship among the ADS awards, daylily terminology, and much more. What I found most illuminating was realizing how much basic information I was unaware of. A good example is the question of what makes a spider form. Of course, I know what one looks like, but I was unaware that there's a very specific definition -- petals must have a length-to-width ratio of at least 4:1. Bouman's presentation was copiously illustrated, and he made the two hours fly by.

Shortly after the workshop ended, I received, by email, a link to the online test. Taking the test was a simple process. Follow the link, answer the multiple-choice questions, and submit -- we had 90 minutes to complete it, but that was a generous allotment. Shortly after submitting my answers, I received notice of a passing grade. The test itself wasn't terribly difficult; while the ADS wants to test that we absorbed the major points, it doesn't seem to be trying to trip people up. At any rate, the next step is Workshop II. I'll make sure to deal with the registration and preparation well in advance.

Now, in all fairness, I don;t even know if I will actually apply to become a judge after I've taken workshop II. The list of responsibilities looks kind of daunting, and I'm not sure if I'm really up for it all. But that's a bridge I'll cross when I get to it.