Gardening weekend

The weekend came and Cindy and I made use of it by buying plants and the accompanying bags of soil and compost and other things which go along with trying to reconstruct the soil of your backyard into something which will receive and cultivate these plants. There are always things you need in order to garden.

Gardening is a pursuit in which I enjoy the ultimate goal much more than I enjoy the effort to get you to the goal. Rakes, shovels and hoes, the tools of preparation, are my nemeses. While Cindy can create muscle stress and joint pains by sweeping the patio clean, I am the one, of course, who finds himself digging holes and hoeing the surface free of weeds and grasses. Not to mention lugging around forty pound bags of compost and topsoil.

When you are coming off the Lenten season of lethargy, and finding yourself in the back yard on a bright, sunny day, you want to do something to get the yard back into order. But the strain of the heavy gardening work required by the Winter season, is not my favorite part of yard work.

But the yard does look better and the patio is more tidy. I need to get the grass mowed and the refuse put in the woods and it will be quite enjoyable to sit out on the patio in the cool of the evening and enjoy the birds drinking and bathing in the birdbath and the shadows cast by the setting sun. The ultimate goal is to sit in the slow fall of darkness, under the evening lights, sipping red wine and battling the mosquitoes of Summer. Perhaps the smell of grilled meat left over from the evening's meal.

Yes, definitely. I won't even mind the dirty dishes.