I came hobbling into the house from the backyard, slowly making my way to the kitchen sink, when my son Alex came in the room and looked at my dirt covered hands.
“What have you been up to?” he asked.
“I just finished planting the 60 daffodil bulbs your Dad and I bought a few weeks ago.” I turned on the water and tested it to see if it was warm enough before soaping up my hands. “I can’t believe how sore my back is from crawling around planting them.”
Alex looked confused. “Didn’t Dad dig all the holes for you?”
I got the nail brush from under the sink and began scrubbing my fingernails. “He did, but that was a few weeks ago.” I stopped scrubbing and rinsed my hands. “They were all filled in with leaves from the few bad storms we just had.” I turned my leg so that he could see the wet, dirt caked knees of my jeans. “I felt like I was playing a one sided game of Marco Polo where I was calling out but no one was answering as I felt around looking for where the holes were!” I could see there was still dirt under my nail so I soaped them up again.
Alex laughed. “I’m still going to say Dad had the harder part, digging 60 holes with a post hole digger.”
I began shaking my head. “I’m not saying your Dad’s part wasn’t hard.” I examined my fingernails again, making sure all the dirt was gone before I turned off the water. “But he considers that his workout.” I reached over and tore off some paper towels. “I, on the other hand, prefer my workouts to not include me crawling around in woods.” I dried off my hands and tossed the paper towels in the garbage before twisting at the waist to loosen the tension in my back. “Ouch!”
Alex patted me on the shoulder. “Just keep thinking about how nice the yard will look next spring.” He shrugged his shoulders. “Maybe that will take your mind off how your back feels right now.”
I turned around to look out the kitchen window. “That’s true.” I could see the patches where fresh dirt had been smoothed over the newly dropped bulbs along both sides of the path. “Now, lets hope we don’t get any critters digging them up this winter.”
Alex pointed to one of the areas I’d just planted and began to laugh. “What do you think that squirrel is thinking about doing?”
I looked over to where Alex was pointing and saw a squirrel, with an acorn in his mouth, began digging at one of my newly planted spots. “Oh, no you don’t!” I cried as I headed for the back door.
Alex was still laughing. “What are you planning on doing?”
“I’m going to cover the spots with some leaves and sticks!” I opened the door and began stomping my foot on the porch. “Shoo!” I called, as the squirrel looked over at me and didn’t move. I charged down the steps clapping my hands. “I said get going!”
As I got closer the squirrel scampered off with the acorn still in his mouth.
“Go hide your acorns somewhere else!” I called to him as I began kicking leaves and sticks over the spots.
Alex had come out on the deck to watch me.
Once I was done I began walking back to the porch. “A little camouflage might do the trick.” I said as I began to climb up the steps.
“Well, if you think that worked, I wouldn’t turn around and look if I were you.”
I stopped mid-way up the steps and sighed. I didn’t bother to turn around. “He’s back?”
Alex shrugged his shoulders. “Maybe a nice hot shower will make you feel better.”
I sighed again as I went into the house and headed for my bathroom. “We’ll just have to wait and see what happens in the spring.”
Slice of Life 