For me, Mother's Day is about being in the garden. For as long as I can remember, every Mother's Day we would serve my mom breakfast in bed, and then head to the local garden center. The rest of the day would be spent cleaning, rearranging and getting the garden ready for new plants and seeds. And what a garden we had! One of the previous owners of our home was a master gardener and had laid out a beautiful garden plan (although all that was left when we moved in was the metal edging and a plot of dirt). So each year we did our best to improve upon the year before, but some years were just better than others. Like the year in the photos above and below. I had nearly forgotten, but a few days ago I came across these photos and just had to share...
That spring I think it rained more than any other in my childhood, and as you can see the garden loved it! The photo above is of the vegetable garden (my pride and joy). Lettuce, carrots and turnips always went front and center, with corn and beans planted just behind. And the best part? The walkway leading back to the Tipi of morning glories and moon flowers (thank you Mrs. Lovejoy!).
This photo was taken years later and much earlier in the season, but it reminded me of how spending those days in the garden as a young child kept me in it for years to come.
I can still feel the marvel and wonder at "giant" worms popping out as I turned the vegetable garden over every spring. Or the pure joy at pulling a carrot out of the ground and running to the hose to give it a rinse so I could eat what I had grown. To this day there still just isn't anything like it.
Thank you Mama for for playing in the dirt with me...
~ Jordan
*Last time in Books and Stories: Happy Birthday Audubon