Welcome Spring!

While I don't have a green thumb myself, I certainly appreciate the results of others' efforts. The riot of color when you walk by a well tended garden is appreciated as much by me as the person who toiled to make it so, only because I do know how much work it takes and have watched the work being done from the haven of a cool house.

You see, when I was young I made a pact with my mother who was an avid gardener. Saturdays when everyone else was made to work in the yard (we had a huge one and it took all of the family to keep it up)I opted to clean the entire house instead of doing yard duty. I have always loathed dirt and bugs, two things that definitely go with gardening. I don't enjoy being hot and sweaty, either. You can imagine how much I despise them when I tell you it was better for me to clean an entire house and bring iced tea to the yard workers than to have to get out there myself.

Of course, when the yard was beautiful with freshly mowed grass and lovely flowers and the garden was yielding all those wonderful fresh fruits and vegetables I enjoyed them as much as the people who had actually been out there working.

The entire family cut grapes one summer to help raise money and I had nightmares for years about the spiders and the heat and sand, leaning over the hot trays to spread out the grapes to dry. At one point I was working with my brother and he had three Black Widow spiders on him. I was terrified. My mother calmly flicked them away. Mother and father grew up with the "Grapes of Wrath" people, the migrant workers that came over from the dust bowl of Oklahoma to work in the fields and orchards. They didn't think it was a big deal to cut grapes for a few weeks to make some much needed money. I, for one, am very glad those days are gone.

So, I welcome Spring. Bring on the flowers and grass, the fruit and vegetables, the new life all around us. Just, please, don't ask me to weed it!

Respectfully submitted.