Day 29

The muck and mire
Last fall, we finished tearing out the remaining "mature" landscape in the front yard of our new home. We hoped to get grass and a few new plants in before it was too cold. Mission failure! For six months, ours has been the only house on the block with its very own dirt lot.

As unpopular as it must be with our very patient neighbors, the neighborhood children seem to rather fond of it. On their way to and from school, they take their twice daily detours off of the sidewalk and into our 'yard.'

I remember the joy of playing in dirt and mud, but for whatever reason, the older I get the less enjoyment I find in it. Maybe it has to do with the 'work' that has to be done, or the cleanup required when the children come after playing. Then again, it may have something to do with getting closer and closer my return to it with every passing birthday. Like it or not, now that it's warming up, it's time to take up our project again. The dirt lot is frequently a mud bog, which is even more appealing to younger passersby.

Recently, we were blessed with a few weather changes all in one day. Wind turned to rain that gave way to brilliant sunshine, and while cold by the standards of most sensible adults, my five year-old thought 58 degrees was summer weather. Walking out barefoot to where I was working, he stood smiling, his arms outstretched, his toes squishing in the cool mud. This was his posture as he announced, "I love feeling the sun on my face and the mud between my toes." There he stood like an early hyacinth, rooted in the warming wetness of the earth and grinning toward the sun.

I thank God for mud and five-year olds! I even thank God for unfinished yard work that calls me back to my humble beginnings.