Thursday, March 11, 2010

Spring! The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly




I finally got outdoors today to clean out my flower beds. They were still full of leaves from what we couldn't get last autumn. It was sunny and in the 60's! Pure joy for Ohio in March, especially after the tons of snow we had in February! As I worked, I felt the sun on my back. It was heavenly. Flash (my beagle, for those of you who don't know), was content to lie on the front porch in the sun, and watch me work.
It didn't feel like work at all, though. It felt like a cleansing - my flower beds were being cleansed of the remnants of past colder seasons, and my body was getting a much-needed dose of vitamin D, and some exercise. I raked away the leaves gently, hoping against hope that something just might be blooming under them. Suddenly, there they were! Bright yellow, vibrant purple, and sparkling white snow crocuses were smiling up at me! They were good.
I noticed one independant yellow crocus had somehow crept underground, out of the flower bed, and decided to come up through the vintage heater grates that I painted to use as stepping stones to the water faucet. Although I admired the flower's free-spirit, I know it will probably get trampled. That's bad.
Saving the worst till last, I must confess that the ugly tire track in the ugly mud on the side of our driveway is my doing. One negative thing about Spring in Ohio is the mud. It's ugly. The snow is still somewhat piled up to the left-top of the photo. When we have huge piles of the snow after my husband shovels, it acts like a barricade when I back out of the driveway (on the right of the mud-track). Once the "wall" melts, I back out a little faster and less carefully. Every single spring since we've lived here (oh, about 15 years), my poor husband has to smooth out the tire track and plant grass seed there...again. I live dangerously even having this picture. I'm sure it would be solid grounds for divorce. I can just hear my hubby: "And, your honor, she has done this EVERY SPRING for fifteen years!"
Hopefully, the fact that I take care of the house and garden, and actually enjoy yard-work (except for planting grass seed), will save me from appearing in court. :)

Happy spring, everyone!

1 comment:

Shari Lynne said...

Linda - that's so wonderful! I love early spring and to see flowers showing up in your yard already, makes me smile :) Our garden is knee deep mud and covered in rotted leaves that we didn't get picked up last year, so its going to take a lot of TLC. I can also relate to the tire track. Its unavoidable.