Back to Gardening

I admit I was getting grumpy.  Day after day of gray skies and rain—so much rain that the river is flooding its banks.  The rain stopped, the sun came out, and it got cold.  There was ICE on my windshield when I went out to my car yesterday morning and, of course, my husband had optimistically put away the ice scrapers already.  Argghh!!

Today was sunny and still rather cold when we got up.  However, by mid-afternoon the temperature climbed to a balmy 65 degrees—good enough.  I marched outside to tackle my large yard.  Today it was time to prune the roses.  It does seem that I can’t escape injury while wrestling these thorny bushes, but no complaints—it was so great to be outside in the sun.  Our dog, Piper, ever the curious one, wanted to check out my progress.  She’s very good at inserting herself right in the middle of whatever I’m trying to do—but I did get dog kisses.

One of the benefits of gardening is the opportunity to observe the wildlife (and I’m not referring to Piper).  Since we have water on our property, we also are blessed with a multitude of birds.  Today while my eyes were focused on rose canes, my husband called for me to look up.  High above us was an osprey slowly canvassing the water below him, looking for dinner.  I stood up, and leaning on the fence, watched him glide above the trees until he disappeared from sight.

Once the roses were pruned and fertilized, I hobbled back inside, my back loudly complaining of abuse.  Gardening takes its toll on my body, but hearing it will be even warmer tomorrow, I know I will be back outside with my pruning shears, ready to commune with nature another day.