Digging in the dirt

January 20

Another day of sunshine came our way today and what a treat. It is Sunday and everyone is home. We open all the doors and windows and let the fresh air pour through the house. We head to the backyard and spend a nice long time playing make believe. My little one is dressed in a huge puffy pink princess dress topped by a bright red wig. "Your the prince!" she announces. "We can dance at the ball," she continues. "I'm a teenager," says my six year old. "Pretend I have a computer and a phone," she adds. The princess and the teenager swing and slide and run to their hearts content. There is a chill in the shadows that reminds me it is January but the sunshine feels so good on my bare skin. I have on a short sleeved shirt for the first time this year.

As the make believe game peters out I grab a trowel and start tuning over the dirt in our little garden bed. There is nothing growing this time of year but I just feel like getting my trowel dirty. My girls join me each taking a tool and we all begin to dig. We take turns with the tiny hand rake, the long narrow trowel and the short stout trowel. "Trade you," announces my six year old and we all switch. A lovely worm is discovered several inches down. We name him, hold him and then set him in a safe corner to bury down again. I think to myself that this year I will try and get started planting earlier and maybe even start some seeds in the house. I tell my girls that we will have to ask Grandpa for advice on when to start our seeds. He is a master gardener and always knows just when the right moment is to plant each seed. He even knows about planting during the right phase of the moon. Every time he tells me I am amazed and vow to remember what he says. Was it waxing or waning?  Maybe we can start a garden journal. My little writer would love that.  But for today there are no seeds and it doesn't matter what the moon is up to. We are just digging in the dirt.