Spring

Today is the first really warm day of the year. It's already 59 degrees and its 8:15am, not quite mid April, in Wisconsin. This is a very welcome thing. VERY welcome indeed. I'm sitting in what we call "the writer's nook" in our bedroom with the window open, and it feels wonderful to hear the birds chirping, and the breeze floating across my legs. I'm thinking that this is the beginning of a beautiful day.

So, speaking of today....I'm working on the blog, trying to make it look like I actually have a clue what I'm doing, and all the while this spring fever thing is beginning to take a hold. I've been putting off my "early" planting of lettuces, and spinach, swiss chard, peas, carrots and potatoes for a week now, and while the potatoes, and maybe even carrots can wait a bit, I want those greens and peas in ASAP, before it gets warmer more consistently. My mind is racing with the garden expansion plans, my desire to hack off every weed-tree-thing sprouting out of my neighbor's yard and shading my garden, how I'm going to convince Mr. O to help me move my strawberry tower (which I made and planted in such a hurry, I'm scared I may have messed it all up), and how I'm going to get the super human strength required to pull the old rebar out of my square foot garden trellis's to replace it with longer, stronger rebar....there's a big list, but I won't bore you any further with my "to do's".

I think my biggest gardening obstacle for the day is Sophia. Ah,  yes, the darling, spirited, nearly 6 year old who wants nothing more than to be Mommy's biggest girl, the biggest, bestest helper of all. She wants to plant the entire 48 square feet of garden by herself. Ya gotta love her enthusiastic confidence, joy, and her desire to be of service. I do NOT love how conflicted I am about wanting to garden on my own, to reap the joys of the meditation with nature alone, and my desire to be a "good" mom, to spend such wonderful, brief, fleeting quality time with my daughter. So, it is this: I need to let go of my compulsion to control everything, go with the flow, let Sophia teach me how to be a patient, loving guide and teacher to her, and plant a bountiful garden with my daughter. She goes back to school tomorrow. (I can always do it my way then)

The other thing I really NEED/want to do is get to my first yoga class at the "new" (new to me as a yoga student) studio, since I paid for the 8 classes a month "yogi card". I haven't been in a yoga practice for a year now, although I did run through a sun salutation flow on my own the other day, and what they say about muscle memory is true, thankfully. I found my flexibility to still be there, even a year later, so, I just have to motivate my lazy self to get to the 11:15am "yoga and meditation" class. I'm thinking that maybe taking it down a notch, meditating on the simple pleasure of gardening, and letting myself just be with the process, and realize that I'll be hard pressed to stop nature from doing what it does, I may find that I can not only get all my "to do's" accomplished, but also enjoy it along the way.