Ready for Summer

We have become so efficient in our unpacking that we quickly settled in, attending to all of those errands required by a three-week absence from home.  In a week's time, the lawn has been mowed, shopping has been done, a new kitchen door has been purchased, and (as of today) nearly all of the vegetable garden, herbs, and flowers have been planted, just in time for the light rain predicted over the next two days.  It was hard to believe this morning as I stood on our deck doing my morning Tai Chi, gazing up at Satulah Mountain, that only a week ago I was on the dune-top deck standing before the enormous ocean.

The deck chairs have been unstacked and placed around the table, cleaned of pollen, and the umbrella has been opened up (where two wasp nests were discovered and destroyed).  What a pleasure it is to merely sit and glory in the green, green world all around and look at the flowers and the herbs that Martha has planted.

I discovered a few years ago that the large tree directly off our deck is a Carolina Silverbell, and these lovely white bell-like flowers dangle gracefully from its branches every April; we are usually gone when this brief event happens, but this year everything seems to be a little late and we were back home to see it bloom, just for a day or two, before the petals turned yellow and dropped to the ground.

The little stream is flowing down below, too, the result of a rainy winter that we avoided, and I re-directed it with a shovel so that it cascades gently over a big rock.  As I walked around the yard to see what has changed, I let the front gate slam and a little bird, a black-capped chickadee I think, flew out of the adjoining birdhouse.  In a few weeks we will see the fledglings learn to fly.  New life is all around us.

In the raised beds we have zucchini, straight-neck and crook-neck yellow squash, green peppers, sweet potatoes, and twelve tomato plants of six different types; the cages are waiting, ready for them to thrive and fill in and (the patient hope of every gardener!) to bear fruit.

I circulated around the apple trees, which have already bloomed, and I noted fruit just beginning to form here and there; it will be time for the first spraying soon.

The 550-mile trip did not do my knee much good, but a week of running has really made the difference, that slow, patient climb back into condition again:  three miles Tuesday, six miles Thursday, and eight miles (for both of us) on Saturday.  As the summer unfolds before us we are optimistic about our running, our health, our gardens, some weekend trips already on the calendar, some hiking expeditions, some musical programs penciled in.  

We are ready for summer.