Summer snowballs and teleportational gargoyles, among other things

The first day of a new schedule is never easy. I’ve reminded myself of this several times today. Add to that the fact that it can hardly be called a normal schedule at all when I’ve acquired Nephew for a week and Link’s Bestfriend for the night. I’m glad that Link gets to spend time with these two boys. It is good for them all. I particularly enjoyed the hour they spent out in the backyard pelting each other with floral snowballs plucked from our neighbor’s giant snowball bush that grows over the fence. No really. There’s a plant that grows clumps of white flowers that look like snowballs. Every year my kids will strip off all the snowballs in reach and throw the hundreds of flowers at each other. It is a spring ritual. Today was the day for it.

The kids had a great day all day long. I was the only one who felt a little harried and stressed. I’m accustomed to having long stretches of quiet house in which to get my work done. Instead I had to hurriedly do work in all the little spaces between the other activities. I did not get all the work done, but by afternoon I was burned out. The shouting laughter of boys playing video games chased me out of the house and I went out into the yard.

“Yard” is such an ugly word. I wish American English used the word “Garden” the way the British English does. In America “garden” implies a small space in which you are actively growing plants, usually food plants; “Yard” is the entire outdoor space that belongs to the house. But I’ve spent so much time cultivating the entire space surrounding my house that it all feels like garden to me. Besides, “yard” feels impersonal while “garden” implies loving care.

Out in the garden I meandered and let the penned-in feeling drop away. I toured all the various beds. Some have seeds. Some have flowers. Some have plants. Most have weeds. I surveyed all the work to be done and then I sat on the hill. You know you’re gardener when you stare at a long list of garden chores and are glad that you won’t run out of things to do. Sometimes looking is all that I do, but usually some bit of work peaks my interest. Then I get out my gloves and set to work. Today I cleared out the weed patch under the spruce tree. As I pulled weeds, Gleek and Patch came over. They pulled a few weeds each. Then the became to preoccupied with jumping across some stepping stones to climb on the back of our garden gargoyle, Winston. Winston is knee-high, made of fiberglass, and has lived in our garden ever since Howard shipped him home from a trip to Chicago. We’ve never regretted the purchase. Winston is marvelous. Today Winston had teleportation powers. Gleek and Patch both climbed onto his back and were whisked off to lands that I could not see. Gleeks narration of the event was strongly reminiscent of the Magic Tree House books. She’s currently reading #2 and I expect she’ll make her way through all of them before the summer is over. By the time I was done weeding, their adventure was over as well and we all went back into the house.

All the excitement and running around must have tired them out. They all read quietly for awhile and now the lights are out. My house is quiet again. Tomorrow I get to do the new schedule again, but it will go better because the second time usually does.