You take yellow, I’ll take green, I say.

My sister and I race into the backyard.

Wet grass sticks between my toes,

but I know it hasn’t rained.

Not in months.

Tugging bath mats from the line,

wooden clothespins pop and fly

in all directions landing

like grasshoppers in the lawn.

I wrap myself in a fluffy cotton rug

and breathe in summer.

My sister wears a yellow toilet seat cover

on her head like a silly french beret.

We giggle and collapse,

rolling in the dew.

Girls!

Stop!

Momma shouts from the back porch.

I know we’re in trouble.

But not really.

In her arms she carries

a bowl of purple hull peas

picked fresh from the garden.

Our next chore awaits.

 

Grace Grits and Gardening

Farm. Food. Garden. Life.

 

“Play is the highest form of research.”
― Albert Einstein