First Fall comes; during which time my thoughts I had that Spring of planting an abundance of tulips for us to enjoy the following Spring seem to go by the wayside. Then the long Winter filled with fun and frowns, finally giving way to Spring where once again I wish I had pushed myself a bit harder to plant that abundance of tulips, daffodils and hyacinthe......
It's during this time that I tend to strongly dislike my backyard, with it's muddy brown grass, weeds and sticks; children's toys that didn't get put away, trampled mud. Nothing green (of course) but also nothing that even looks like it could turn green and pretty. And then I get discouraged. How can I possibly tend to the yard, the house, the...... Does it all have to be my responsibility, I whine to my husband? All your responsibility, eh? He replies. It's at that moment I tend to slink away. Who am I to think that it's all my responsibility? Do I really forget each spring all the hard work my husband does around the yard and in the garage? Just because our yard doesn't have even a spot of prettiness after the winter? Ha, how prideful of me. How patient of my husband while I say to him, "I just can't do it all. I don't think I'll do a garden this year." But he knows. He knows how much I love to garden - the planning, preparing, planting, watering, tending...... The reward of canning salsa using some of my own home-grown ingredients and the satisfaction he knows I'll get from this.
And so here I am again. Sipping my coffee in the backyard with my children during their outdoor break and suddenly the ideas start to come, like tiny shoots of green pushing through the dirt and reaching for the sun. "Come walk with me while I think out loud!" I exclaim to my kids. And then I again begin to formulate ideas for making our backyard pleasant to our family, filled with flowers, vegetables and yes, perhaps we will do the pool again......
I wonder if this fall I will be able to push myself to plant the abundance of tulips, daffodils and hyacinthes so that come spring, instead of bemoaning the "fact" that I can't do it all (ha) I will look to the spring flowers which I love so much and recall how the soft green will soon cover up the harsh mud. And like the plants in my backyard grow under my gardening care, I will continue to grow under the care of My Gardener.
