Saturday Slight

On this beautiful Saturday morning, I'll open with a reflection. Today our dad would have been 92 years old. It's hard to believe that Harold has been gone almost five years. Bill and I drove by the cemetery last night to see if his grave is visible after a winter hidden within the snow. Most of the snow is gone, and we can see it from Colburn-Culver Road.

I'm not sure if the setting is quite ready for flowers yet, but I'm sure that day will come soon. For now, we remember you, Harold, and will never forget as we continue through each day, constantly being reminded of what we do because of your influence. So, the day will start honoring your memory and your birthday.

It truly is a good day for all who love to be outside. Bill is going to Spokane to take down a display he put up Thursday for the Idaho Forestry Contest at a convention at the Spokane Interstate Fairgrounds. His itinerary will also include a stop at Costco. Bill buys those giant boxes of Tide and then dates them to see how long they last. Apparently, last September's purchase is nearing the bottom of the box.

So, he'll resupply on soap, dog food, coffee and a giant block of Tillamook medium cheddar cheese. There's no point in putting a date on the cheddar cheese cuz it's usually gobbled up almost before the ink would dry. My standard lunch is two chunks of cheese. And, one of Bill's favorite pre-meal treats is Santia chips tops with melted cheddar. We eat it like candy, so there's never enough cheese in the Love household.

I'll continue with what I did yesterday, raking the grass back to life and redistributing the million or so dog logs dotting all newly melted areas each day. I love the dog-log phenomena. First, there's the metamorphosis from initial moment of dropping of hot plops on cold snow to the early spring stage of encased morsals.

No two dog logs look alike. After snow melt, they appear in clumps of different colors, shapes, sizes and coatings. It may sound a bit gross, but I rather like raking up dog logs. They're the one aspect of winter lawn garbage that actually disintegrate with the first touch of the rake tooth. Within one swipe, three dozen dog logs have turned into history, leaving just a film across the top of the grass---and hopefully providing your lawn with an early-spring nourishment.

Now, if those old, soggy leaves and the chewed up pieces of wood could do the same, I'd be happy with my spring cleaning, but leaves never seem to cooperate. Those that I'd raked from beneath the poplar trees the other day had dried out enough that a gust of wind carried them from the pile to a large stretch of lawn, necessitating more raking.

The rocks deposited by snow plows from the roadside to my lawn make me mad too, and they don't do rakes much good either. My lawn rake and my barn pick are in need of a tooth fairy after some of this week's rock raking.

And, speaking of things broken, I did not enjoy the revelation in the north lawn Thursday night as I walked through areas where snow had melted and found almost all of the young fruit trees broken off at the stem, hundreds of branches destroyed on the lilac bushes and the Japanese cherry trees, and questionable destruction of all blueberry bushes. Mother Nature's wrath was more than severe this year.

It's sad to think that we'll be lacking the beautiful spring show of blossoms that we enjoyed last year. Yesterday I went around pruning all the dead limbs and hauled off two wheel barrows full. And, there's more to do with the row of smashed-in cedars along the north lawn.

Well, I'd better quit thinking about it and get out there. Lots to do. Lots to do. But a gorgeous day in which to perform whatever spring rescue attempts on lawn and landscaping.

Have a great Saturday.