Spring: A Feast for the Senses

Lilacs. Tulips. Freshly-cut grass. Fresh fertilizer. Pungent mulch. Mud. Dead worms. Wet dogs. Beautifully blooming pear trees that smell like dead fish. Ah, the scents and stench of Spring.

As of today, the month of April has had a total of 19 days of rain out of 26. Our backyard had enough standing water to form a small pond that two mallard ducks frolicked in earlier this morning.

A towel hangs permanently by the back door to wipe our dog’s paws every time he comes back inside, no matter how quickly he tries to slink by. Our older cat, wiser and faster, slips in behind Buck as he is being humiliated with a blue fuzzy towel.

Why the heavy security at the back door? The lovely bright white ceramic tile that covers half of the first floor of our home: It’s not the stains that are worrisome, but the smallest amount of moisture that turns the tile to a dangerously fashionable slip and slide.

And, oh, the dandelions. Our backyard is a humiliating sea of yellow, in stark contrast to our neighbors’ lush green lawns. Apparently, the weed blocker we failed to use in the fall had been doing its job quite well in the years’ past, as we awoke Easter Sunday morning to a swath of goldenrod. Until I can kill all of them, I simply squint my eyes and pretend they are daffodils (I will kindly ask all my neighbors to do the same).

An avid gardener, I’m itching to pull out the lawnmower and decapitate all the weeds and plunge into the flowerbeds, with a minivan back seat full of flower flats. As the daylilies and hostas have already broken ground, it is almost time to re-level the birdbath and clear away the remaining clumps of autumn leaves hiding between the boxwoods and other shrubs.

But as the cool daytime temperatures remind me, overnight frosts are still a great possibility, and there still remains a two-car garage that needs to be cleaned before I can turn my eyes to the ‘fun chores’ of Spring.

In the meantime, Jordan and Jamie are growing marigolds and pansies from seeds given to them for Easter from Grandma Sandy and Grandpa Bobby.  Perched on the kitchen windowsill, the small flower pots remind us the warmer, sunnier days of spring are just around the corner.