Spring planting

Finally, spring has arrived.  Interesting fact: I used to not really like spring.  I thought it was boring.  If you'd asked me my favorite season, maybe even four years ago, I would have told you:  fall, first and foremost, then winter, then summer.  The end.  Spring felt more like an interim.  Simply the transition to summer.  Looking back, I'm somewhat astonished at that thinking.  I have crisp memories of coming home from middle school in the spring - getting off the bus, walking home, and arriving at the house when no one else was home.  In those first, dull days of spring, I skipped the front door and went straight to the backyard to inspect the progress: crocuses poking through flattened brown leaves to make their first appearance of the year.  

Today, I await spring eagerly.  Time to start planting!  Spring means peonies and hydrangeas and lilacs in full bloom, tulips and daffodils in my backyard, and the threat of frost past, so that I can put tomato and basil seeds into the ground.  This year, I'm trying squash!  The seedlings, above, are just popping up.  Growing vegetables is such rewarding work, but involves a lot of patience, and, I suppose, some risk.  There's no telling if these little sprouts will make it it to full fruit (and if the gophers that frequent my backyard will kindly refrain from eating up all the summer squash before I do) :)