In the Garden

All righty, then . . .

We've been in the garden many evenings and some weekend days of late, weeding and tilling the soil where we hope soon to see thriving vegetation of the edible and fragrant varieties. After a two-year wait on a list somewhere, we were finally given the green light to choose a plot at our nearest local community garden. We were thrilled, though the weather was so wet for so long that it took us some time to get around to weeding and preparing the soil for planting. We still haven't planted anything, though that should change any day now, and definitely before next week's multi-day rain sets in.

We usually take our nine and five-year-old daughters with us to get them outside in the fresh air, though being true children of the technological age, I must confess, they are often at a loss as to what to do with themselves once they are there. We are attempting to retrain their brains, to have them fall deeply into their own imaginations for entertainment, and it is sometimes rough going.

Living in a townhouse makes it challenging to get the girls outside for free play. There are cars parked in what would otherwise be a front yard, a mere walk-in closet of a backyard, bounded at the back by a six-foot high privacy fence which prevents any truly satisfactory view of the narrow common area between the rows of properties. Throwing the kids outside to play is not such an appealing option. The nine-year-old learned to ride her bicycle on a grassy hill behind the house for lack of a cul-de-sac.

I'm whining, I know. But we may have found a way around that particular challenge. The garden plot.

We've met a few of our gardening neighbors who are very friendly and helpful, and we appear to have chosen a lot that is very near the park concert venue, so that in the summer, on Thursday evenings, we will have backdoor passes to all the shows that happen through. Music, picnic, playing, blankets, gardening—sounds idyllic. I won't take that statement to the bank yet, but I am at least hopeful that our summer will be filled with music, fresh air, imagination, and, if we're lucky and industrious, a bountiful harvest from our garden. Cheers.