Regarding Gardening

When it comes to yard care, we are novices. We've had some hits, we've had some misses. And this spring, we have learned some things the hard way. Specifically, we've learned about grass.

Here's what I now know: though it appears to sort of take care of itself, grass does not. It needs stuff. Like fertilizer and aeration and grub control. Duly noted. Only, a bit too late. Our house lawn now looks a little bit like what I imagine the Ewells' yard (you know, the Ewell family from To Kill A Mockingbird? You remember, right?) must have looked like. Okay, okay, maybe not that bad, but I kinda feel Ewell-like when I look out on our grass. And then I see our neighbors walk by and fight the urge to run up to them and apologize.

Yesterday we decided to commit the entire day to the yard. At 10 a.m. we skipped out bright and happy to get our fingers in the dirt. We were greeted with a blast of cold, icy wind. We were not daunted. 40 degrees is fine weather for weed pulling, flower planting, raking, and the like, right?

No, it is not.

Lillian lasted about 10 minutes. She then began walking around the driveway moaning and crying, with a little green happiness dripping constantly from her nose.

No problem, we thought. We pulled the car into the driveway, rolled down the windows a bit, stuck Lillian in her car seat in the car, turned on the portable DVD player, and filled her pockets with fish crackers and pretzels and a sippy cup of milk. Oh, and her blankie. She loved it, and in between scenes of "Monsters Inc." called out to us "Hiiiiiiiiiiiii!" and "Mommmeeee Daddeeee Hiiiii!"

And so we worked and toiled while our noses ran and our toes froze. We planted a rhododendron and an azaela bush. We planted tulips and day lilies and primroses. We removed holly bushes and old branches and lots of weeds.

By 6 p.m. Lillian had her fill of every Disney movie I could get my hands on. Then she just wandered around the driveway until she found the sprinkler working full blast on the newly laid grass seed. She stood in front of it. At this point I decided that the gardening was done.

We ate a pizza. We watched a movie. We fell, exhausted, into bed.

And this morning as we pulled out of the garage on the way to church, we paused to peruse the fruits of our labors.

The Ewells would be proud.

We have a long way to go. Just letting you know.