Yesterday was a such perfect day because we spent it working in the yard, and there’s nothing much better than a breezy, sunny, pre-spring day digging in the dirt. (After having been under the weather for several days, I was extra grateful to feel energetic.) John raked and bagged while I cleaned out the front beds. We have so many trees all around which means lots of sticks, especially since the Northwest Arkansas wind of late seems to blow West Texas strong.

What a fun thing, pulling away last summer’s brittle debris and seeing signs of growth, purple hosta shoots poking through the soil, feathery coreopsis spreading beneath winter’s dry blanket.

When my sister and I were kids, our job was mowing the yard each Saturday, an all afternoon affair which began with picking up sticks, then mowing circles around the trees with the push mower (a job no one liked), and then finally cutting the grass with the riding John Deere (of course) mower.Continue Reading