Home Again, Home Again, Jiggity Jig

I do feel a bit like doing a jig. I'm so glad to be home after this last trip. Not that the trip was in any way unpleasant, because it wasn't--it was great (teaching in Atlanta)--it's just that I'm happy to be home and feel sort of settled again. Stitches South was one of the last things on my Large List of Gigantic Tasks to Complete, so it feels good to have it checked off.  Spring break begins today and we've been so busy lately that everyone agreed unanimously that a few days of nothing are in order. Today we have been puttering in the garden and reclaiming parts of the house that have been buried under the layers of whatever is most urgent, but in short spurts and definitely not according to a schedule. It's kinda nice. Later in the week we'll head into the city for some sort of outing, get ready for Sam to come home from school, and be able to have a day together with Eric. That will definitely be nice.

I'm so very pleased to have a break from class this week. I can write my paper about Margaret Bourke-White, take some more photos to develop and catch up on so many little things that have fallen by the wayside in past weeks. Today in the garden I got my freecycle-obtained stella d'oro lilies planted, moved some black-eyed susans and hostas, and cleaned up perhaps an actual ton of leaves and sticks in my yard. I moved rocks, counted how many lilac shoots I have that need to be moved and discovered that my clematis vine has reproduced. I'm not sure if that is by new growth from the root system or by layering (when  a branch touches the ground for a long time, it actually puts down roots and starts a new plant). Anyway, the happy news is that I now have several clematis vines that I have to move somewhere.

There's lots more to do, so it will be an everyday thing, but that's okay. It becomes a little piece of quiet each day that I look forward to. True, it will never really be done, but it also never stops providing me with pleasure and something to look forward to.

So all in all, I love my garden, untidy and slightly neglected as it is right now. My little ritual at the end of all shifts of garden work is to take a minute and sit and look and see how things look and what needs to change or just enjoy the colors and textures and the way it feeds my soul to have things growing around me. Today I saw some trees that need to come down and decided for sure to buy a new hammock. I noticed that two of my neighbors have dogwood trees about to bloom, and relished the image of the future golden glory of the flowers I just planted.