Death by Gardening

I'm pretty sure there is such a thing, and I'm also pretty sure it has a hold on me. Every day, I stride purposefully past the basket of laundry, the debris from last week's great furniture swap, and the unread newspaper, and grab my trusty shovel and basket of gardening implements.
Oh, I try to resist. Really I do; but it is right outside the office window, and stretches out past the row of pines that might otherwise protect me from the siren's song. Each morning I NEED to see what is blooming and what survived another night of deer browsing. One of the new plants might need a drink! One of the weeds might need a yank. One of the groundhogs might need a good scare. It's pathetic. I can see that.
The heat drives me inside during the middle of the day, but after dinner the itch returns. I marvel at how good I've become with the shovel. Last year, the blade would only turn up small, delicate divots. All the force would toss me off balance while the rocky soil mocked my futile attempts. This year the shovel hits its mark and turns up big clods of dirt. By Jove, I think I've got it!
Each evening ends with a mud-streaked face, fingers sore and stained, and knees and back aching. The sunset is always beautiful from the deck where I cool off before going inside. Life is so good!

It's been a while since I've posted - not since the magazine deadline. We got the proof for the next issue approved, so it should start printing next week. I worried that this might be a scanty issue because of all the things herbies need to do in May, but that was all for naught. I wrote about our trip, there's another article about a traveling herbal seminar. Another came in about a legendary local herbalist from "way back", and we got so many recipes to use with our harvests! It filled up so beautifully, and we even got a new writer on board who will be reviewing books and interviewing authors in this and upcoming issues. We've already got a couple articles stored away for the Sept/Oct issue! With the new postal rates, we've decided that we really need to stick to 32 pages - no matter what. That may mean smaller type - heh heh heh. Anyway, that's where I've been, getting all of that put to bed. You're going to love this issue, of that I am certain.

Off to picnic with the crew - hope your weekend is green and dirty :-).