Dirt Under My Nails

I NEED dirt under my nails! It is absolutely imperative for my mental well-being! This is actually going to be the first time in my entire life that I am going to have nails long enough to dig dirt out of, but somehow all of these years past, there still managed to be dirt under them!

Today, against my dad's better judgement, I cleaned up a portion of the leaves from my yard. We started with the daylilies out front. They are starting to peek through, these tiny little green tips! I just wanted to get down on the ground and kiss them...they are so cute...and soooo welcome!!! Then I moved over to clear out some other lilies and the bee balm! I didn't want to kiss the bee balm, because if you've ever smelled it, you know why! But I was super excited to see that there was new growth there, too. My azaleas have tiny buds, my hydrangeas do too! I cleared out the leaves from the daisies and can't wait to fill in that space with coneflowers and black eyed susans and let them go wild!

My hands are all scratched and dry...my sweats and t-shirt are dirty and I am pretty sure I have dirt in many other places, too....but I feel sooo alive! My heart was pumping, my arms were aching, my legs were squawking as I carried basket after basket to fill the pickup to the brim. And tonight, as I am ready to crawl into bed to read my new book, my mind is finally quiet. All I can think about is what treasures we will uncover tomorrow! That, and maybe what new things we can add to make our yard even better....I think this is the year for some climbers...definitely an arch with climbing roses leading from the front to the back....and perhaps some trumpet vine on the side of the barn! I wonder if my Jupiter's Beard survived the winter!? Hmmm....