Let’s hear it for the beginning of Spring! Hip! Hip!

When the gardening tools come out of storage, the kinks get worked out of the clippers, the webs are dislodged from the plastic seed trays, and I’m full of ideas for moving this to there, trying a new color of those, and color coordinating that spot over there. Hip! Hip!

But first the weeds must come out and the soil turned. Then it’s time to prune, so out comes the ladder. There’s a lot to clean up and clear out, many preparations to make before the new catalog orders arrive. No time to waste—Hip! Hip!

True, the bending and lifting, stooping and lugging, dragging and carrying, stretching and dumping all get a bit wearing, but it’s for the sake of the garden Hip! Hip!

At last, at day’s end, I pull myself into bed with sore arms and stiff back, broken nails and bruised knees, dead tired and ready for rest. Ilie down on my side and—ow!

My Hip! Hip!

—By Jaci Hall of San Jose, CA.