3:57 PM Mon, May 12, 2008 | Permalink
Cindy Brummer
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It's that time of year again... the time of year when I can spend just about all day outside in the yard, pulling up this... planting that... shaping the earth with my own two hands.
And this year... I have more help.
Yesterday (Sunday), I lathered Luke and myself up in sunblock and we headed outside to take advantage of the unusually cool day. We explored, we pulled up some weeds... then we settled down with shovels, wheelbarrow and bags for a project I've wanted to tackle since moving into my house more than 3 years ago -- digging up the grass in the little strip of land between the public sidewalk and the street.
My square-blade shovel is supposed to do wonders for taking the lawn out... but I've never had luck with it. My husband thinks I don't have enough body weight to use it efficiently... I figured I was just a weakling. After about 30 minutes of struggling with it, a neighbor took pity on me and loaned me a landscaping pickax. The weight of the ax made the difference in pulling up the grass, and Luke and I worked for hours.
He has a little spade that's just his size, and he would put dirt on the shovel and run and dump it in the wheelbarrow.
Sometimes he would put the shovel head on the sidewalk and run up and down, listening to the sound of the scraping metal and yelling as loud as he could.
We stopped to eat watermelon and 'ooh and ahh' at the bugs unearthed in our work. We saw a grub, and watched it crawl its way back into the earth. We saw a really cool spider, and it popped its legs out and began running all over the sidewalk -- causing my son to scream with glee. We watched butterflies chase each other and beetles crawl through the dirt.
By the end of the day, both of us were covered in dirt and sweat. Luke's bath water turned brown the moment he stepped into it... and I was very grateful for my shower later that night. I was sore and achy from the weight of the ax, but I couldn't help but think that it had been a very fun day with my son... and maybe -- just maybe -- he learned something. I know I did... he made me notice all the stuff I normally don't notice when I'm outside and showed me how important it is to stop and enjoy.
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