balm in the rain

If I look hard enough, there is a positive side to not being able to dig because of the rain:  I'm forced to get other stuff done when I get an hour or two without E.

Today I went out to weed under the apple trees.  I do this twice a year -- spring and fall -- and spread compost around them in neat circles.  They get unruly again pretty quickly, but I usually get a month or so to enjoy what the backyard looks like when the grass is cut and the trees have nice borders.

A couple of weeks ago, I worried I wouldn't be able to tackle this job since so much is going on this spring, but today I found the time to begin.  Weeding around one tree was so satisfying (easier in the rain) that I did three more.

I have been meaning to plant some lemon balm under the apple trees because it attracts bees, and I've been wondering if it might compete well with the invasive bindweed that grows on the hill.  It wouldn't bother me at all if the lemon balm just took off and spread all down the hillside.  Its roots are shallow, and it serves several purposes -- medicinal and insectary.  I happened to have some lemon balm elsewhere that had escaped its pot so it was nice to be able to transplant that to a place where it can do a lot of good.

While I was replanting the balm, the sun came out.  There I was... sitting on the edge of the hill, listening to the creek, smelling both the dirt and the soapy lemon balm, feeling the sun on my hair, and looking at the pretty blossoms on the crab apple tree (always the earliest to bloom).  Bliss.  A moment so full of hope and simple pleasure.

I walked down the hill a bit and saw a young blueberry plant almost completely taken over by a huge (18 inches in diameter) red dandelion.  I laughed because it reminded me of how the chicks sometimes stand on top of one another.  I thought, "Oh, you'll be a bugger to pull, won't you?"  Then I decided to change my strategy and said outloud, "Dear, you are gorgeous, but you can't be here.  Come inside with me and we'll make some tea of you."  She pulled straight out without a fight.

Comments

[Taylor]

Wonderful.

[jl]

yes.... lovely. very sweet story