“Hey, Alex!” I called out to my son. “Do you use insect repellent?”

Alex came into the living room where I was scrolling on my phone. “I spray my sneakers when I’m going out in the woods for a walk.”

“But you don’t spray it on your skin do you?”

Alex looked confused. “I don’t think you’re supposed to spray it on your skin.”

“When I was a kid we used to spray it all over our skin.” I laughed as I shook my head. “You know, to protect us from bug bites.”

I held up my phone for him to see the video I’d just watched. “I just watched someone spray our brand of bug repellent on some weeds and they were dead in less than a day.”

Alex shook his head. “You know you can’t believe everything you see on the internet.”

“I know.” I got up from the couch. “But this one I can prove to myself.” I looked over at Alex. “Where do you keep the can of repellent?”

Alex pointed to the hallway closet. “It’s in there on the bottom shelf.”

I went to the closet and grabbed the green and orange can of repellent and turned it over to read the directions. “Nope.” I pointed to the directions on the can. “It says you can spray it on skin.” I began shaking my head. “They don’t want you spraying it directly on children.” I laughed as I read the directions out loud. “When using on children, apply to your own hands and then put it on the child. Spread evenly with hands to moisten all exposed skin.” I looked at Alex raising my eyebrows. “That sounds safe.” I laughed.

“You don’t know if it actually kills weeds, too.” He reminded me.

“You’re right.” I headed for the front door. “There’s some weeds in the driveway that I’ve been meaning to pull up.” I began shaking the can. “Let’s see what this does to them.”

Halfway down the driveway we came to a little clump of weeds that had managed to grow up between the Belgium block.

“Okay, my little weed friends. Thanks for being a part of my experiment.” I lightly sprayed the weeds and stepped back. “So, I sprayed them with as much as I would have used to spray on myself.”

I looked at the slightly moistened weeds and then to Alex. “What do you say? We give it a day and check back?”

Alex shrugged his shoulders. “I guess.”

We walked back into the house and I went to wash my hands. “I’m actually hoping the video is wrong.” I called over my shoulder.

A few hours later, Alex and I were headed out for a walk when I stopped halfway down the driveway.

“You’ve got to be kidding me!” I cried.

Alex and I were looking at where the green weeds had been just a few hours ago and were now shriveled up and dead.

“How does this stuff get approved to be used on people when it does this to plants?” I cried.

Alex shrugged his shoulders. “Maybe they think the diseases you can get from bug bites are worse than the stuff you spray on yourself to keep them away?”

“Well, now that I see this,” I pointed to the dead weeds. “I’m going to be doing some serious research on natural bug repellents.” I hoped he could hear the conviction in my voice as we started walking again.

Alex looked over at me. “So what you’re actually saying is that now you’re giving yourself the perfect excuse to spend hours scrolling on your phone?”

“Doing research!” I countered.

He raised his eyebrows. “And stopping to watch the occasional funny cat video?”

I had to sigh. “Okay. Maybe that too.”

I was sitting on the back porch reading when my son Alex came out and pointed towards the woods. “The chipmunk feeder is working out great.” He said with a laugh.

“What?” I looked up from my book and sure enough there was a chipmunk sitting on the ledge of my new bird feeder. “Oh, come on!” I cried as I turned my book upside down on the table next to me and stood up. “I bought that feeder specifically because they said it was squirrel proof!”

“Well, in their defense they didn’t say it was chipmunk proof.” Alex corrected me.

We watched as some house finches tried to land on the feeder only to be chased off by the chipmunk within seconds.

“Can’t you at least share the feeder?” I yelled out to him.

“I’m guessing he’s not in a sharing mood right now.” Alex said.

We watched as the chipmunk jumped from the feeder onto the Shepherds hook the bird feeder was hanging from, sliding down the pole like a fireman headed for the trucks.

Before he hit the ground he jumped off the pole and landed on a rock that bordered our path to the shed. He quickly looked around, his cheeks stuffed with bird seed, before hopping from rock to rock until he got to our fire pit. He jumped up on the ledge and stopped to looked around again. When he was satisfied that the coast was clear he jumped up the steps of our deck hopping up on the arm of an Adirondack chair and began adjusting the seeds in his mouth.

“Got enough?” I asked him.

My voice made him look up and when he saw Alex and I he jumped from the arm of the chair through the rungs of the deck and landed on the back of another chair.

“Well, that was impressive.” I looked over at Alex. “He looked like he was flying and totally stuck the landing!”

Alex nodded in agreement. “He certainly has some awesome parkour skills.”

We looked over the railing and watched the chipmunk quickly scamper across our patio, taking one last look around before diving into the entrance of his burrow that he’d dug under our downspout.

I looked back at the half empty bird feeder that the two house finches were finally getting a chance to use.

“I guess I should fill the feeder.” I sighed as I went to get the container of bird seed.

“Really?” Alex looked confused. “You know the chipmunk is going to be back up there emptying it out again.”

“I know.” I picked up the bird seed container that we kept in the corner of the deck. “But you have to admit he was kind of fun to watch.”

As I walked down the steps headed for the feeder the two house finches, who had been busy filling up while the chipmunk was away, flew into a nearby tree.

“I know you two want to try the newest feeder but I think you might be better off using the old feeders for now.” I pointed to the two feeders that were squirrel and chipmunk proof next to the bird bath.

“I’m not sure they can understand you.” Alex called from the porch and began laughing.

“You never know.” I said as I took down the feeder and began filling it with seeds looking over at the two house finches that were watching me. “You just never know.”

My son Alex and I were driving home from the beach when we passed a landscaping crew working on a property. It looked as if they were trimming back some shrubs. I watched as one of the workers struggled to drag a large barrel filled with yard debris down the gravel driveway. He was using both hands as he tugged and pulled the barrel over the gravel.

“He could use some wheels on that barrel.” I said as we drove by.

Alex looked over at the worker, then at me.

I shrugged my shoulders. “I’m just saying.”

Immediately after that I saw a car pulled up to a house with a For Sale sign on the front lawn. I pointed to the license plate on the car. “Hey Pennsylvania, I sure hope someone let you know that the house you’re looking at is in a flood zone!”

Alex looked over at the house but didn’t say anything.

I quickly had to swerve our car to miss a child riding their bike too close to the road. “Hey!” I said. “Maybe think about where you’re riding and put on a helmet!”

I looked over at Alex shaking my head. “Geez…What’s going on around here?”

Alex started to laugh as he began rapidly snapping his fingers. “You’re just whipping those negative remarks out at light speed!”

“What?” I was confused. “What’s that suppose to mean?”

“Well, you’ve had three negative things to say in the past…” Alex looked at his watch. “I’d say a minute.”

“What are you talking about?”

“First the landscaper had the wrong equipment. Then Pennsylvania didn’t know they were looking at a house in a flood zone and now…” He pointed to the child still having some trouble riding his bike. “Clearly he’s still learning how to ride a two wheeler and you’re yelling at him to get out of your way.”

At this point we’d pasted the biker. I took a quick look in my rear view mirror and could see that indeed he was still learning. “I wouldn’t say I was making negative remarks.” I looked over at Alex. “I’d say I was just stating the obvious.”

Alex shook his head and laughed again. “Sure. If the obvious can have a negative spin!” He held his fingers and began rubbing them together. “Just sprinkling negative fairy dust wherever you go!”

“Hey!” I laughed as I reached over and pushed him in the shoulder. “I’m not sprinkling negative fairy dust!”

“It’s like riding with the negativity fairy.”

“Oh come on!” I cried as we passed a woman wearing a ridiculously over-sized straw hat that she needed to tip her head back so she could see where she was going as she walked her dog. “Nice hat.” I said then quickly looked over at Alex. “And I meant that in the nicest possible way.”

“Sure you did.” Alex laughed as he shook his head.

I held my hand to my heart. “I swear!”

“It’s okay.” Alex said as he reached over and patted my shoulder. “Sometimes you just can’t help yourself.”

I couldn’t help but sigh. “I’ll try harder.”

Alex nodded still laughing. “Well, we’re about twenty minutes from home so, good luck with that.”

“There’s something about that flower that just makes me smile.” I said to my son Alex as we walked past the pot of orange day lilies on our deck as we headed for the garden.

Alex nodded. “They’re pretty.” He agreed.

“They’re more than just pretty.” I argued as I opened the garden gate. “They represent the end of a school year for me!”

Alex laughed. “Happy start of your summer vacation.” He walked over to the strawberry plant. “Hey, you’ve got another berry ready to pick.”

“Don’t pick it yet.” I called over to him as I went to cut some fresh dill. I was planning on adding it in the potato salad we were going to have with dinner. “Remember the tiger lilies we had at the end of the driveway at our old house?”

“Sure I do.” Alex had moved over to the tomato plants. “There were hundreds of them right next to the big oak tree.”

“Well, when I was little I’d be standing at the end of our driveway waiting with my brothers and sisters for the bus to take us to school. I would watch that patch of tiger lilies as they first broke through the ground and formed buds. When they finally bloomed, I knew it meant that school was almost over.”

Alex looked over at me as I snipped some dill off the plant and put it in the small bowl I’d been holding. “You were never a big fan of school were you?”

“Nope.” I turned around and headed over to the tomato plants. “I hated school with an absolute passion.”

Alex laughed. “Those are some pretty strong words.” He was pointing to the small green tomatoes that were hanging from the vine.

“But very true.” I began checking the other plants to see if I could find any more tomatoes.

Alex shrugged his shoulders. “I wasn’t a big fan of school but I certainty didn’t hate it as much as you did.”

“I’m glad.”

“You know what’s really funny?” He went over to the sunflowers to see if they needed any water. “That you work in a school now.”

I laughed. “Don’t think the irony of that doesn’t strike me all the time.” I went to check the lavender plants. “But working with kids that don’t want to be there has become my new passion.” Pulling a few of the dried leaves off the plant I held them up to my nose and inhaled. “I love the smell of lavender.” I held out the leaves for Alex to smell. He inhaled and nodded his head. “Nice.” He said.

I opened the garden gate and headed back to the house with the little bowl filled with dill.

As we headed up the steps to the deck I stopped at the container of day lilies and cradled one of the flowers in my hand. “You my friend, were always a sign that there was light at the end of the tunnel for me!”

Alex laughed as he headed for the back door. “Clearly it’s still a sign for you!”

I had to laugh. “Hey, I might not hate school anymore, but it’s still nice to have the summer’s off!”

My son Alex and I were sitting on our back deck having our morning coffee and tea when out of the corner of my eye I saw something moving in our garden.

“Did you see that?” I asked as I set my cup on the table and got up to investigate.

“I think it’s one of our new neighbors.” Alex said as he followed me down the steps.

“What?” I stopped and turned around to look at him. “What new neighbor?”

Alex laughed as he pointed to the bird house across the yard where a new family of house finches had moved in and the babies had just hatched. “Ever since the babies hatched I’ve seen either the Mom or the Dad flying around the snow pea plants.”

“Are you serious?” I walked over to the garden gate and could see the house finch working it’s way around the snow peas vines. “Can you help me get him out?” I asked Alex as I slowly opened the gate.

“Don’t worry. They’ve been getting in and out all by themselves.”

“Really?” I looked at the five foot fence that surrounded the garden with a bird netting that covered the entire sides and top. “Is there a hole somewhere?”

Alex shook his head. “Nope. I checked the other day. I just think they’re small enough to fly through the netting.”

Sure enough as I walked over to the container with the snow peas our little neighbor saw us and quickly flew through the netting and headed back to their house. We could hear the baby’s frantic chirps as they entered the nest.

“Well, that’s just great.” I sighed as I began checking the plant to see if our little neighbor was doing any damage. “They can’t possibly be eating the peas. The plant looks fine.” I looked over at Alex and began to shake my head. “I can’t believe they can fit through the bird netting!”

“It looks like our new neighbors are garden thieves!” Alex laughed.

I looked around the rest of the garden. “Everything else looks fine.” I pulled a few weeds by the tomato plants before opening the gate to let ourselves out. “I guess I could share the snow peas with them.” We could still hear the baby’s chirps but they seemed less frantic. “They do have a growing family to feed.”

Alex and I were headed back to the deck to finish our coffee and tea.

“I just can’t believe they like snow peas.” I sat in my rocking chair and picked up my phone. “I wonder why house finches like snow peas?” I went to Google and began typing. “Oh!” I looked over at Alex. “It’s not the snow peas they’re eating. It’s the aphids that are on the plant!”

“That makes more sense.” Alex said as he looked over at the garden. “So they’re not garden thieves after all.”

“Nope. They’re little flying gardeners!” I looked over at the bird house where one of the parents had its head sticking out of the entrance before quickly flying out and landing on a nearby tree branch. “Eat as many aphids as you want my friends!” I called to them as they began happily trilling their little song. “I could use all the help I can get taking care of the garden!”

My sister Liz was going to be in New York to sing with a group at Carnegie Hall and had invited me into the city to stay with her for a few days. I hadn’t been in the city since she moved out of her high rise apartment there six years ago and moved South to be in the country.

For weeks we reminisced about all of our favorite places that we used to haunt; restaurants, spas, museums, and parks.

A week before the trip I got a phone call from her. “I just e-mailed you the itinerary for New York.” She said.

“Okay, great!” I put the phone on speaker and laid it on the couch cushion next to me while I grabbed my laptop. “I’ll pull it up right now.” When I went to my mail, hers was the first e-mail that popped up. “I’ve got it!” I called as I clicked on the link. “Wow! It’s three pages long!”

“Well, I am going to be in the city for a week.”

I began scanning the itinerary. “You actually have the time my boat arrives and the Pier I’m docking at?”

“Of course I do.” She laughed. “You’re part of the itinerary.”

I was flipping through the pages. “You’ve booked teas, facials, Broadway shows and dinners! All I can say is wow!”

“Yup. Everything is booked and waiting for us.”

I looked at the night of her performance. “Wait. There’s a dinner cruise after your performance?”

“Sailing around New York Harbor with the city as the backdrop!” I could hear her sigh. “It’s going to be beautiful!”

“I’m sure it will be but you’re not boarding the boat until eleven at night?” I’m glad we were on the phone so she couldn’t see how big my eyes were.

“The concert is over around ten so by the time everyone gets back to the hotel, changes clothes, and gets across town to the Pier, eleven is almost cutting it close.”

In my head I was chanting “Don’t be a party pooper. Don’t be a party pooper.” But I couldn’t help but be honest. “I’m usually in my pj’s by eight.”

“But this is New York!” Liz cried. “We’re going on an adventure!”

“You’re right.” I nodded to myself before I let out a small sigh. “I’ve got to change my mindset.” I scanned the itinerary further. “Wait. Some of the breakfast and dinner reservations say they’re for eight people.”

“I know!” I could hear the excitement in her voice. “I want you to meet my friends that are going to be singing with me!”

“But you know how nervous I get when I have to meet new people.” Once again I was glad we were on the phone and she couldn’t see the pained look on my face. It was moments like this that I could see how socially different my sister and I were. She loved parties and events. She loved going to them. She loved planning them. She was the-more-the-merrier type of person.

I, on the other hand, was perfectly content sitting at home, in my pj’s by eight, reading a book, and sipping a glass of wine all be myself.

“They’re really nice couples.” She continued. “You’re going to love them!”

“I’m sure they are.” I said with a smile as I chanted in my head “It’s okay to get out of my comfort zone. I’m going to be okay.” I looked back at all the wonderful things she had planned for us. “Thanks for setting everything up.”

“You’re welcome.” She started to laugh. “Now get packing! We’re meeting in New York in less than a week!”

“I can’t wait!” I said before we hung up the phone. I looked back at the itinerary. “I’m going to have a good time.” I said as my son Alex came into the room.

“Doing what?” He asked.

I turned my computer around so he could see the email. “Aunt Lizzy sent me the itinerary for when we’re in the city.”

Alex began reading it and I saw his eyebrows go up. “Dinner reservations for eight?”

“I’m meeting her friends.” I said with a little hitch in my voice.

Alex laughed as he patted me on the shoulder. “Good luck with that. You always love to meet new people.”

“You’re not helping!” I cried.

“You’ll be fine.” He called over his shoulder as he headed for the kitchen. “You’re going to be with Aunt Liz.”

“That’s true.” I looked back at the itinerary. “It really is going to be an amazing trip.”

“Hey, can you do me a favor?” Alex asked as he came into the living room where I was sitting on the couch doing some needlepoint.

“Sure. What do you need me to do?” I put my needlepoint down on the cushion next to me and looked over at him.

“I’m not getting my hair cut until next week and I was wondering if you could clean up the back of my neck until then.” He turned around to show me where it needed to be trimmed.

“Oh…” I must have looked surprised when he turned back around because he quickly said. “You don’t have to if you don’t want to.”

“No. No.” I got up to follow him into his bathroom. “It’s just that you’re always making fun of my hair cutting skills on my plants that I wasn’t sure you really wanted me to do it.”

“No. I trust you.” He opened his vanity drawer and pulled out his clippers. Plugging them in he turned it on and quickly turned it back off before handing it to me.

“Wow!” I took the clippers from him and turned it on and off myself. “You must really trust me if you’re going to let me use this.”

Alex turned around again showing me the back of his neck. “Just these stray hairs right here.” He was pointing to two patches of stray hair.

“Okay, sure.” I began finger combing his hair down to see where it needed a trim. I took a deep breath in before turning on the clippers. “Well, here goes nothing.”

“Wait.” Alex sounded a bit panicked. “You know you’re not cutting my hair, just cleaning up the back of my neck until I can get to my REAL hair cut?”

“I know.” I was running the clippers down his neck, every once in a while blowing away the cut hair.

After a few minutes I turned off the clippers, stepped back and sighed. “Well, it’s not perfect.”

Alex started to laugh. “What’s that suppose to mean?” He said as he took the clippers from my hand.

“Exactly what I said.” I went to get the hand mirror from my bathroom so he could see what I’d done. I walked back to his bathroom and held up the mirror. “You know I’m not a barber.” I could see him straining to see what I’d done.

“Am I going to have to wear a hat until next week?” He asked.

“Where I trimmed isn’t going to be covered with a hat.” I took a closer look. “Maybe a scarf.”

“WHAT?” He was still looking for any damage I’d done. “It’s June!”

“Yeah, maybe a scarf wouldn’t look right at this time of year.” I moved the mirror for him to get a better look at the back of his neck.

“I’m still not seeing where you did anything wrong?” He was turning his head in different directions.

“Oh, well that’s good then.” I put the hand mirror down on his sink and patted him on the shoulder before I walked out of the bathroom. “When you see Denise at her salon next week just don’t say I had anything to do with it.” I called over my shoulder as I headed back to work on my needlepoint again.

“With what?” He called. “I still don’t see anything wrong!”

“And that’s all that matters.” I said as I sat back down on the couch and picked up the canvas I’d been working on.

“Do you want to go check the garden?” My son Alex asked as we sat on the back porch enjoying a warm spring evening.

I sighed and rolled my eyes. “Not really.”

I had somehow become the head gardener in our one year old garden. My husband Steven had put in a HUGE, and I mean huge, garden last year with raised beds, surrounded by a six foot fence covered with bird netting to protect the plants.

The winter before he put the garden in he spent every night watching videos on how to work with only natural ingredients to get rid of any mold or pests that tried to ruin his hard work. He started the plants by seed. Racks of plants under grow lights lined our basement walls. I often thought about what the neighbors must have been thinking when they saw the grow lights reflecting from the basement windows on chilly nights, wondering if they thought we had started a pot farm.

Last summer he spent every evening working his crops. Several kinds of tomato, peppers, and lettuce. Snap peas and cucumbers. Honestly I can’t even remember all the plants he had put in, but it was a lot.

This year when I asked when he was going to start planting he shook his head and told me it wasn’t going to happen this year. He was just too busy.

So that’s how I earned my reluctant gardener badge. I sighed again as I got up from the porch and headed for the garden gate. “I suppose we should check on them.”

Alex and I had already planted some early spring plants a month earlier. I’d actually hoped Steven would see the plants growing and trigger his need to feel the earth between his fingers as he took over the garden. But I was wrong.

I went over to the raised container that I’d planted some onions, beets, and arugula in. I looked at Alex and shrugged my shoulders. “They look the same to me. What do you think?”

Alex inspected the plants. “They haven’t gotten much bigger.” He stood up and patted me on the shoulder. “But at least they’re still alive!”

I had to laugh. “That’s true.” I stuck my finger in the dry dirt. “I guess it was a good thing you mentioned coming out here. They need water.” I went and got the hose. Steven had created a wicking system for watering. I placed the hose in the tube that went down to the bottom of the planting beds. While I waited for it to fill I looked over at the snap peas that had somehow made it through the winter and was already producing some beans. Some of Steven’s lettuce had come back in another bed.

“When do you want to go out to the nursery and get the tomato plants?” Alex asked as he looked at the snap pea plants seeing how many were ready to harvest.

“Maybe next weekend.” I said as I looked down at the concrete pavers that the garden was sitting on. Weeds were beginning to pop through. “I guess I should get some Round-Up for those.”

Alex’s eyes got big. “You can’t use Round-Up in the garden!”

I had to laugh at how horrified he’d looked. “I know. I was only kidding.” With my one hand still holding the hose, I leaned over and pulled a few of the weeds out from between the cracks. Handing them to Alex I pointed over to the covered bin Steven had used for the green trimmings. “Can you toss these in there?”

Alex came over and took them out of my hand. “Are you putting your herbs in again this year?”

I looked around the garden and began to wonder where I was going to put each plant. “I am.” I nodded. “And maybe I’ll add some flowers this year, too.”

I walked in the front door, dropped all my bags on the chair in the living room, and saw my son Alex walking down the hallway. “Well, that certainly was a long day at work.” I complained as I tossed my keys in the basket on the kitchen counter and headed for the couch.

“Sorry about that.” Alex said as he followed me to the couch. “Do you want to order out for dinner?”

“No, I’ve got chicken in the fridge that’s been defrosted.” I kicked my shoes off and laid down. “I’m just going to rest my eyes for a few minutes and then I’ll start dinner.” I fluffed the pillow before laying my head on it.

Alex grabbed the blanket off the back of the couch and placed it over me.

“Thanks.” I sighed. “I’ll be good to go in a few.”

“Alright.” He was headed back to his room. “Have a nice nap.”

“Not a nap.” I reminded him. “I’m just resting my eyes.”

What I thought was several minutes later I heard keys in the front door.

My husband Steven and Alex were walking in carrying a take-out bag from the diner. “I got dinner!” Steven said as he held up the bag.

“What?” I tossed the blanket off of me and sat up. “But I was going to cook chicken!”

“Well, we thought you needed the sleep.” Steven said as he headed for the dining room while Alex headed for the kitchen to get the plates to set the table.

“I was just resting my eyes.” I reminded them.

“You’ve been resting your eyes for the last hour and a half.” Steven said as he pulled the food containers out of the bag.

“And you were snoring.” Alex laughed as he set the plates out.

“Really?” I looked at my watch. “I swear it only felt like a few minutes!” I looked over at Alex. “And by the way I don’t snore.”

Alex was still laughing and nodding his head. “Sure. Okay.”

“We got hungry so we figured maybe you’d like a break from cooking tonight.” Steven handed me my container. “I got you a chicken parm sandwich.”

“Oh, my favorite!” I sat down at the table and opened the container. “I swear I was only planning on closing my eyes for a few minutes.”

“We know.” Alex handed me a napkin. “But you looked like you needed the rest.”

“I guess I did.” I picked up the sandwich. “You must have read my mind because I was planning on making chicken parmigiana for dinner tonight.”

“I know it’s your favorite.” Steven opened his Cobb salad. “I was in the mood for a salad anyway.”

“What did you get Alex?” I was looking over at his container as he opened it.

“I got a grilled chicken wrap.”

“That looks good, too.” I took a bite of the chicken and sighed. “Now that I’m having this tonight I’m going to have to figure out another recipe for tomorrow nights chicken.”

I looked over at Steven as he shrugged his shoulders. “Don’t ask me. I’ll be happy with anything you make.”

“Ah, thanks.” I looked over at Alex. “What about you?”

“I’ll be fine with anything as long as you don’t make grilled chicken wraps either.” He took a bite of his wrap.

“I guess I’ll just surprise you both tomorrow. Unless I happen,” I made air quotes with my fingers. “to ‘rest my eyes’ again tomorrow.”

Steven was shaking his head and laughing. “There’s only one free pass a week.”

I shrugged my shoulders and laughed. “Hey, you can’t blame a girl for trying.”