My Garden Is Calling Me
For what seems like the first day in ages, it is not raining. The sun is shining, the bees are busy buzzing, the birds are making it in mid-air, the squirrels are enjoying the peanuts I left for them, and my plants are blooming.
The scent of roses and hyacinth, sweet melissa and lavender floats on the breeze and in through my writing room window, tempting me to come outside and play. I want to be out there, the sun on my face, the wind gently blowing my hair, my bare feet cushioned by the soft waves of bluegrass.
In some ways, not much has changed since I was a kid in school. Those last few days of class drove me crazy. How could I concentrate on subordinate clauses, Sherman’s march, or algebra when Mother Nature sang to me?
I’ve made good progress on all of my current writing projects. And though I still have a few more thousand words until they’re finished, I deem this worthy of a respite.
I open the back door to make my way outside, and I am greeted by three wasps. Sentinels determined to keep me inside. So I spin back around, shut the door, and close the blinds. I don’t like feeling intimidated by three measly flying insects. So I grab a smudge bundle I happen to have and light it. I smudge the porch with the sweet, burnt smell of sage. The wasps are now watching me.
“Yeah, and I got more where that came from!”
Just then hubby drives up and sees me alone on the porch.
“Who are you talking to?”
“Those thugs over there” I say, pointing to the wasps, who are by now faking interest in our pink dogwood tree.
“Why did I even ask?” Hubby says and shakes his head.
“Hey, I didn’t start this! They did.”
Hubby goes on inside the house and behind me I can hear the buzz of wasps..and what sounds like snide insect laughter. :P
May 15th, 2008 at 6:32 pm
Birds do it in mid-air? For real? I thought they did it in the branches. You can tell where my mind got stuck. I think you’re going to have to do more than smudge the wasps. They just don’t purify that way, if you know what I mean.
May 15th, 2008 at 9:08 pm
LOL - I love the post. We’re moving into winter here and have fog. I can’t see a thing…
May 15th, 2008 at 9:21 pm
Hey Alice! LOL. True about the smudge bundle, but it was all I had handy I could light…except for a copy of Reader’s Digest. I just didn;t think that would be enough of a threat. Now, if it had been a copy of the New Yorker, it might have worked.
Just kidding, guys. You know I loves ya at the New Yorker…
May 15th, 2008 at 9:25 pm
Hey Shelley!
Yeah, but fog is so atmospheric and moody, perfect for setting tone in a novel.
Besides, think of all the fun you can have in the fog…
umm,
forget I said that. I keep forgetting hubby checks out my blog sometimes. 
And what happens in London stays in London, right?
May 16th, 2008 at 3:20 pm
I love planting stuff and watching it grow. Bryan and I have planted our first vegetable/herb garden this year, and I hope it survives.
May 18th, 2008 at 8:12 pm
Hi, CC! It’s my first time here, but I can tell already that I’ll be back. I’m intrigued by a number of your ideas!
I feel the same way you do about wasps (and bees). I’ve been driven back inside by those wee bullies more than once. But that was in Indiana. I haven’t seen any wasps here in California. Or mosquitos. I’ve been scared out of my mind by a couple of humming birds because they make a big buzzing sound and they’re so fast, it’s hard to tell what they are unless they slow down enough.
I love the banana.