Thursday, April 19, 2007

Joy In a Cup

Spring has finally sprung for us Mainers. Today it seems the weather will break and we will witness the big golden ball of fire in the sky kindly known to others as the sun. To many Mainers it is this great mystery that occurs once a week amidst great suprise. Jaw agape I stare in awe at the warmth eminating from this big yellow sphere hovering over me. "What is it?" I ask to nobody in particular. I am elbowed in the rib from a passing stranger "It is called the sun."

"The what?!"

"The SUN!"

With that I am startled into reality. The central sun. Heard of it, don't see it much. It doesn't matter, I am happy in Maine no matter what the weather. I pull on my dollar store sunglasses and a SeaDogs ball cap, roll up my long sleeves, dig out my Bass flip flops and a smile. Spring has sprung in Maine.

Last night the joy of the weather report and the delivery of my organic peat pots from the mailman brought squeals of delight to this little girl. I searched out my trays and popsicle sticks and many seed packets and began my annual ritual of planting the seeds. Tears of joy practically pour from me.

I am a seed planting junkie. I typically love antique varieties of flowers and veggies but this year I chose the basics. I am living in a new location where I have no idea what kind of soil I have and beyond that, I'm renting. I can't go dig up the landlords lawn. I will try my hand at container gardening, so I kept it basic. Poppies, pansies, marigolds, balcony tomatoes, Wee-Be-Little pumpkins, peppers, sunflowers (always) , brandywines, and blue lake green beans.. This will be different. No more lemon cucumbers and purple carrots, no fancy stuff this year.

I haven't started my herbs yet, but I will. I have a lot of plotting to do, more planning, more preparation. All of this and the growing season is so short. But ahhhh my heart beats faster just smelling the bag of soil I used. I imagine the seeds pushing up through the darkness reaching to the...reaching for the ... striving to get to see the..(big yellow warm thing in the sky, can't remember it's name)..*sigh*

6 comments:

Tricia said...

ohhh tammy! i love your blog! this is my first visit here and i will be back. we are getting ready to head out the door any minute...can't wait to visit again! :)

Jen said...

Ahhhhhhhhhh. the sun.
I remember that feeling when, after 6 months of feeling like I was living inside a ping pong ball...the clouds would dissolve and the sun would shine!
These days, I see the sun most days and I actually don't mind (and even enjoy)the occasional overcast day. Can't believe I said that!

Glad spring has sprung in your neck of the woods! The flowers sound delightful.

We have a small perennial garden in the back yard- started by the couple who used to live here...It's in bloom and the colors are so vivid...glad it did it all by itself and didn't have to rely on my care, I'm sorry to say.

.. white wall is still blank and the flowers wait for me to do something with them...did put a bunch in a big blue mason jar.

Admire your green thumbs!

love, Jen

daisies said...

i can't wait to put my hands in the soil, my soil in my yard, sigh ...

i can't wait for the sun to shine down on me ~ can you believe it snowed here again this morning.

i loved this post hon :)

Unknown said...

My same reaction when I saw that thing in the sky today too!
Absolutely welcomed!!!
I am a gardener too and am so thrilled that my husband and I have a community plot this season.
Woo Hoo for spring!

Melanie Margaret said...

I hope you had fun in the sun today!!!

XO,
Melba

Mindy said...

hope you enjoyed the sun filled weekend. so excited you are coming with jes to our opening events! xo, mindy