Feeling quiet these days. I knew it was coming, and here it is. The plan is to roll with it.
Several weeks ago we were in the back field planting potatoes when joined by our neighbors, my uncle, and all of our dogs. The three dogs ran free while the rest of us caught up on all things neighborly, such as how we’re managing the invasive Japanese barberry that is taking over our collective woods, the serious amount of ledge that seems to be rising up in my garden, and of course, the weather. You must talk about the weather. I felt contented that our crossing of paths was the result of my uncle making his way through the woods, a good distance from his place to ours, and our neighbors taking a long walk around the perimeter of their acreage, finally landing at our garden. It was a good, brief chat. They always are. Eventually, sensing that Adam and I were resting a little too comfortably into the weight of the broadfork, our neighbor said, as she always does when it’s time to part ways, “Okay, time to get back to work!” We all nodded and dispersed just as easily as we came together. The dogs joined up with their respective humans and we each got on with our day. As he was leaving, my uncle stopped to check out the old tractor that sits on the edge of the field, and Adam joined him. Did you know there is a lot to talk about when staring at old broken down tractors? Once they exhausted the exact points that were covered the last time they stood and stared at the old tractor, my uncle and his dog disappeared into the treeline and walked home through the woods. Adam returned to the garden and we planted the remaining potatoes.
This morning I walked through the garden and noticed row after row of potatoes have broken through, without a single watering from me. That’s my kind of spring. Now if only summer is as accommodating, we'll be in good shape. Summer plants and seeds are in the ground, I'll hill the potatoes later today and mulch the heck out of everything, too. It feels wild and unruly in the garden this year, which, not surprisingly, mirrors my own life at the moment. And it occurs to me, this is not a bad kinship to have.