Silver Linings

I laughed at the crunching noise my footsteps made in the snow. The few flakes lazily swirling through the air were bluffing and we all knew it. Winter's last gasp was drawing near and I held the proof of it clutched tightly in my arms. My garden seeds had arrived! Not just any garden seeds, these. I held heirloom gardens seeds, crossed off the list and put back on, researched, dreamed about, and finally purchased online at http://www.stclareseeds.com/. 

Walking back from the mailbox, I stole a glance at the spot that would one day hold Green Zebra Tomatoes, Sugar Baby Watermelons, and Cascadia Peas. Soon. Very soon.

A half dozen gardening books were stacked by my chair, atop them all, this book:

I consider it ammunition for upcoming battles. I would be prepared. I need only wait. And then... it happened! Snow was melting. Yes! So long, Winter! Don't let the door hit you on the tush on your way out.

Wait. What was all that wet stuff? A river in my yard? No! Slow down! Winter come back! I'm sorry. I didn't mean it. Why did you rush off like that? You needn't have departed so abruptly. I like long goodbyes. You could have stood in the doorway, one foot on the porch, s-l-o-w-l-y easing your way out. We could have chatted for another moment or two.

*g-a-s-p!*

Thanks be to God, the water quickly receded. Sadly, what it left behind was much, much worse. I thought I knew mud. No. Oh, no. I did not. I have come to discover that in fact, mud is a four-letter word.

And it's not so much mud in the house I am dealing with - rather it's getting to the house in the first place. Or getting out. Our driveway has become one long mud slide, deep, thick, slippery...

Stepping outside our door, boots sink several inches down into the dark, oozy stuff. It slurps and sucks at each footstep in an attempt to glue you to the spot. It is also pleased to deftly flip you onto your backside, covering half of your body with enough crud to make several mud pies. Poor Brendan can attest to that. Just ask him. He'll love it.

Never one to be kept down for long, I decided to look for a bright side to our slimy mess. I found two reasons to be grateful about the mud. Yes, I did. The first is meeting some new (very nice) people, driveway gravel salesmen. The second stems from the fact that deep down, mud is cool. And it makes me look cool. You see, tough outdoorsy folks sometimes enjoy driving around in mud on purpose. They call it mudding. I know!

So, here's how I look at it. All that mud covering my van makes me look tough and outdoorsy, too. Yeah. It's given me more "street cred." Of course I take my family van (complete with baby seat and grahm cracker crumbs) off-road mudding.

"Cause that's how I roll, Baby!"

Oh yeah. Spring's gonna be a blast.