Two days later, after being much edified by the words of the prophet and apostles, we started in on the the rest of the awesomeness associated with days off. Gabe and I prepared the garden. I have been challenged in my hope for gardening success since all that ever happens when I plant is that the deer are alerted to the new eating place in town, but I do remember having a zucchini plant that bore fruit. We definitely had summer squash one year, and I recall the season I had lots of banana peppers for salsa. I admit, I'm kind of a crummy gardener, and I don't weed enough and I haven't kept my soil amended, but it's my duty as a living person to attempt a crop every year. Besides, studies show that gardening is great for mental health, and no one can be against more mental health, right? And what if this is the year that I actually weed my garden all summer? What if 2016 is the summer of the tomatoes and cucumbers? If I quit I'll never know what could have been.
So I spent some time pulling weeds. In fact, as I worked I thought we should all be more like weeds. Look at these little monsters that burst with seeds at the slightest provocation. What if the seeds represent love and happiness and good works? As we go though life meeting trials, we can burst with goodness and propagate good works all around.
Or what about this guy with a strong deep tap root? He's not moving for nothing. Winds blow, his top gets pulled off, but he keeps growing back because he is grounded. So if we are grounded in truth, we also will be strong and lasting and resilient until it rains for 3 days and the earth is softened and the gardener comes with the shovel. I guess we all have our time to die.
Next, it was time for my favorite spring activity, flower shopping. I took Gabe with me so he could share in the thrill of purchasing annuals. He just wasn't looking that impressed with the fun level. I tried to engage him in the selection process that involves carrying various flowers around, holding the sweet blooms next to each other to see how the colors and textures blend, exploring every aisle to make sure there isn't a beautiful little undiscovered flower that had not been considered. He was more concerned with helping me complete the task and keep my expenditures in check. He did carry the bag of soil for me which was magical, but I wasn't feeling the "I'm having the time of my life" vibe.
And then we planted:) :) :)
The next day we had to scrap the old list and make a new list that included 1. Help Gabe survive a nasty virus. 2. Force him to drink Gatorade.3. Get him to eat food, any food. 2. Take his temperature. We repeated this list for 3 days. He lamented that his spring break was wasted. I was thankful that he was not sick during school and wouldn't have to do make-up work. After some long days and nights he started to recover.
When Gabe was solidly on his way to health I left him with Paul and flew to Omaha to
celebrate the birthday of my good friend from my many years in Lincoln, NE. I had a lovely visit with her wonderful family who are some of my favorite people. Joyce's husband thinks that we have a tendency to get into trouble together, like that one time when we moved all the furniture around, and I ever so lightly tapped a couple of nails into a wall at midnight. We didn't want him to be disappointed so the next morning we went furniture shopping and picked out thousands of dollars of new furniture, and then I said, "Thanks for the fun time" and left. Of course we sought the approval of family members. I'm a helper.
And then it was time to return to alarms and routine and learning and life which all seems a lot easier now that spring is here.
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