I was in the kitchen with my son Alex when I picked up a box that contained an herb garden kit my sister Liz had given me. “Want to help me put this together?”

“Sure. What do we have to do?”

“I’m pretty sure it’s just stick some seeds in dirt.” I opened the box and began setting the contents on the counter. Planting pots, nine different seed packets and soil discs. I held up the little bamboo plant signs to show Alex. “These are cute!”

Alex nodded as he pulled out the direction booklet. He pointed to that saying that was on the front cover. “Plant your way to joy.”

I laughed as I took the booklet from him. “Let’s see if that’s true.” I began leafing through the booklet when I noticed the heading on page four. “Uh-oh!” I turned the booklet so Alex could see. “It’s never a good sign when it says ‘before you start’.”

I scanned down the page. “It wants us to soak the seeds in warm water for twenty-four hours before we plant them.” I looked at Alex and shrugged my shoulders. “I’ve never heard of that before.” I scanned down further. “Oh, it says it increases their chances for germination if you soak them first.”

Alex shrugged his shoulders. “Well, I guess we’ll be planting our way to joy tomorrow.”

“I guess so.” I began opening the cabinets looking for something to soak the seeds in. “This is getting more involved then I expected.” I pulled out a small juice glass. “I’m going to need nine of these.” I put the juice glass back. “Too big and not enough of them.”

Finally the last cabinet I opened I saw my husband Steven’s shot glass collection. “Perfect!”

I began lining them up on the counter while Alex put a little plant sign in each glass. After filling the glasses with warm water we opened the seed packets and poured them in.

“You can’t even see some of these seeds they’re so small.”

I was peering into one of the glass when my husband Steven walked into the room.

“What are you guys up to?”

“We’re planting an herb garden.” I looked over at Steven. “Did you know you’re suppose to soak the seeds before you plant them?”

Steven nodded his head yes. “It’s increases their chances for germination.”

“How did you know that!”

Steven laughed. “Because I’ve gardened before.”

“I’ve gardened before!” I cried.

Steven just stared at me.

“Okay, fine.” I sighed “Maybe buying a tomato plant and putting it on the back deck isn’t technically gardening.” I made air quotes with my fingers as I said the word gardening.

Alex laughed as he pointed to the shot glasses. “I’m pretty sure this isn’t technically gardening either.”

“Hey!” I swatted him on the arm. “You’re suppose to be helping me!”

“I am!” Alex said. “I’ll help you plant your way to joy tomorrow.”

Now that we were spending our pandemic summer at home, I wanted to think of more ways to entertain myself in the back yard. This led me to pick up my phone and order a bird bath.

The day it arrived I couldn’t wait to install it.

While I sat in my rocking chair on the back porch I called out to my husband Steven who was holding the bird bath by the edge of our woods.

“A little more to the left!” I called.

Steven moved it over. “How’s that?”

“Maybe just a smidge more.”

I rocked back and forth in my chair making sure it was always in my view. “That’s perfect!”

Steven staked the base into the ground so it wouldn’t tip over in a wind storm.

I grabbed the watering can and went inside to fill it with water. Coming back out I poured the water in and swished my hand around. “Perfect temperature.”

I stepped back to admire it. “They’re going to love this!”

We could hear the distant rumbling of a storm coming. I looked up at the dark clouds pushing their way in and moments later the rain began to fall. We hurried inside to wait out the storm.

A few hours later the rain stopped and the sun was out.

When I peeked out the front window I saw a foggy mist rising from the blacktop in the street. I looked over at Steven who was sitting on the couch. “I wonder if the rain cooled things down a bit.” I headed for the front door to check.

“Nope!” I called as I stepped outside and stood on the front porch. “Oh, come on! Are you serious?”

Steven came out and stood next to me. “What’s wrong?”

I pointed to the end of our driveway where two robins were splashing around in a puddle. “I get you a beautiful new bird bath and you’d rather play there?” I called to them.

I looked over at Steven as he shrugged his shoulders. “Maybe they haven’t seen it yet?”

I looked back at the robins. “It’s right out back.” I pointed my thumb over my shoulder. “It’s like a day spa for birds back there!”

The robins continued their fun at the end of our driveway.

I shook my head and looked back at Steven. “Seriously? They’d rather splash around in a mud puddle.”

Steven took me by the shoulders and steered me back in the house. “Let’s get you back inside before the neighbors see you talking to a couple of birds.”

I was confused. “I’ve always talked to the wildlife. You’ve seen me do it hundreds of times.”

“I know.” We were standing in the foyer as Steven closed the door behind us. “But it’s usually on the back porch where no one else can hear you.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. “It’s not like I think they’re going to talk back to me!”

“I know that.” he leaned over and gave me a quick kiss on the forehead. “But the neighbors might not.”

My son Alex came into the living room where I was sitting on the couch having my morning cup of tea.

“Do you want to go for a walk?” he asked.

I looked over at the thermostat that showed the outside temperature. “It’s already 82 degrees out.”

“I know. It’s suppose to go up to 100!” He looked over at the thermostat too. “I thought we could get a walk in before it got too hot out.”

I put my cup of tea on the coffee table. “You’ve got a point. If we’re going to get one in today it should be now.” I got up and headed to my bedroom. “Give me a minute to get my sneakers on and I’ll meet you at the front door.”

Once we opened the front door and stepped out it felt like we’d walked right into a steam room! “Well, that certainly smacks you right in the face!” I said as the humidity hit us.

“The airs so thick it feels like we’re swimming.” Alex added as we looked at one another.

“Do you still want to take a walk?” I asked trying to keep the hopefulness that he’d say no out of my tone.

“We might as well get it in before it gets any worse.”

“Good answer.” I said as I nodded my head feeling that it was anything but a good answer.

We weren’t even at the end of our driveway when I could feel the beads of sweat begin forming on my upper lip.

Alex stopped at the sidewalk and looked both way. “Which way do you want to go?”

“Whichever way has the most shade.”

Once we began our walk I noticed our pace picked up whenever we were in full sun as we headed for the next shady patch. Twenty minutes had gone by without much conversation, just putting one foot in front of the other, when I looked over at Alex and noticed he didn’t seem to be sweating. I looked down at my dark green tee shirt that was now sweat soaked, pulling it away from my skin. “How are you doing that?” I asked.

“Doing what?”

“Not sweating!” I was wiping my forehead against the sleeve of my shirt.

Alex looked over at me. “WOW!” he looked around the neighborhood. “Did you walk through someones sprinkler?”

“Very funny.” I began flapping the bottom of my shirt trying to make some kind of breeze. “How come you’re not sweating?”

“I’m sweating.” he pulled at his white tee shirt to show the tiny wet mark that was under his arm. “See?”

I could feel beads of sweat now rolling down my face. “That’s not sweating.” I looked up the road and could see our house in the distance. “Thank goodness!” I cried.

When we reached our front steps I went ahead of Alex.

“Wow! You should see how wet the back of your shirt is!” he said as he followed me into the house.

The blast from the air conditioner felt like a slice of heaven as I stood in the front foyer.

“I’m getting some water. Do you want some?” Alex asked as he headed for the kitchen.

“That would be great.” I couldn’t move as I waited for my body temperature to go down.

“Maybe we can try another walk after dinner, when it cools down again.” Alex called from the kitchen.

I shook my head no until Alex reappeared and I quickly nodded yes and smiled as he handed me my glass. “That sounds like a great idea!”

My son Alex and I were out for a walk at a local park. As we came around a bend in the path we saw that the tennis courts were filled with players.

“I was never really good at tennis.” I pointed to the two on the court that were hitting the ball to one another. “Even when I played like that, where you’re trying to hit it directly to the other person.” I shrugged my shoulders. “Never mind when you’re really playing the game and you’re trying to make them miss.”

Alex looked over at me. “When did you play tennis?”

“In high school.” I shook my head. “Like I said, I wasn’t very good at it.”

Alex started to laugh as we moved past the tennis courts and stepped aside for a couple of bikes to pass us. “Didn’t you always say you hated gym when you were in school?”

I looked over at him confused. “Sure I did. Who wants to get all sweaty then have to head back to class.” I shuddered “It’s disgusting.”

Alex laughed even harder. “So how did you expect to get good at a sport if you wouldn’t practice?”

“I practiced.” I looked over at him again. “We played tennis for almost a whole semester!”

“But you just said you didn’t like to get sweaty.”

“So?”

“That’s not practicing!” Alex wasn’t even trying to hold back his laughter. “That’s standing there hoping the ball gets hit right to you!”

I shrugged my shoulders again. “This being said by someone who was always good at sports.” I reminded him.

Alex was still laughing. “That’s because I spent hours and hours practicing. Don’t you remember all the soccer, baseball and basketball practices you dropped me off at?”

“Oh, yeah.” It began coming back to me. I looked over at him and smiled. “I completely forgot about all that.” I patted him on the shoulder. “You’ll be happy to know I always thought you were naturally gifted in sports.”

“Nope.” he shook his head. “Hours and hours of practice.”

We could see the parking lot, where our car was parked, at the end of the path. “Well, I admire your dedication.”

“Hey, you could still take up tennis now.”

I stopped in my tracks and looked over at him. “Have you met me?” I couldn’t help but shake my head. “Do I look like a person who going to spend hours practicing a new sport?” I began walking to the car again.

“You’re always complaining that you want to fit more exercise in your day.” Alex shrugged his shoulders. “I’m just saying it’s a great way to get some exercise.”

Opening my door I looked over the roof of the car at Alex who was standing by the passenger door. “I was talking about more walks in a day.”

Alex held up his hand. “Hey, I was only making an suggestion.”

I shook my head as I climbed in the car. “Tennis.” I snorted and started to laugh. “Like that would ever happen.”

“Hey, I didn’t know we had a Rose of Sharon bush in our yard.” I was looking out our dining room window at its beautiful purple flowers that had just begun to bloom.

“We don’t.” My husband Steven said as he came over to take a peek. “Well, would you look at that.” he laughed. “I guess one escaped from the neighbors’ property.”

When our new neighbors moved in, a little over a year ago, there had been several Rose of Sharon on the edge of their property. Last fall when they put up their stockade fence the Rose of Sharon were where they wanted the fence to go so, we sadly watched as they pulled the bushes out.

Now I couldn’t help but smile as I slipped on a pair of flip-flops and headed out the back door with Steven following right behind me.

“I’ve always wanted Rose of Sharon in our yard.” I said over my shoulder as I came closer to the plant.

“You have?” Steven came and stood next to me. “You never mentioned it.”

“That’s because I didn’t know I wanted one until just now!” I leaned down to see that the bush had been planted close to our chain link fence and had woven itself through the links and popped out on our side. “How come we never noticed this before?”

Steven shrugged his shoulders. “I guess it was so close to all the others that we just assumed it was on their property.”

I reached up to touch one of the delicate flowers. “Aren’t they beautiful.” I looked along the branches and could see dozens of buds that were ready to pop. “I think this is my favorite color, too.” I pulled the branch with the purple flower closer wondering if there was any fragrance. “Nope. No smell at all.” I looked over at Steven. “I guess that’s good news for you and Alex.”

Our son Alex came out on the back deck. “What’s good news?” he asked.

“Our new Rose of Sharon doesn’t have a scent, so it won’t be giving you any allergy attacks.”

Alex came over and looked up at the bush which was well over eight feet tall. “When did you plant that?”

“We didn’t.” I looked over at him and smiled. “It was a gift.”

“A gift?” he looked confused.

I pointed to the bottom of the plant that had worked its way between our fence. “It escaped from the neighbors’ yard and now it lives with us!”

“All right.” Alex laughed. “I guess, congratulations.”

“Thank you.” I called as he headed back to the house. I looked over at Steven then back at the new addition to our yard. “I really do feel like a got a present today.”

I was cleaning up the dishes from dinner when my son Alex came in from the back porch. “A thunderstorm’s rolling in.” he said.

I peeked out the kitchen window and saw that the sky was already getting dark. “I’ll be right out!” I cried as I wiped my hands on a dishtowel and reached into the cabinet for a wine glass. Hurrying to the refrigerator I grabbed my bottle of Pinot Grigio and poured a glass before leaving the bottle on the countertop and racing out the door so I didn’t miss any of the show.

Sitting in the rocking chair I looked around the woods, not a leaf was stirring on the trees as a light rain had begun to fall.

The birds were making last minute visits to the feeders while the squirrels, chipmunks and rabbits were taking their last tour of the grass to see if they’d missed anything good before turning in for the night.

Then a quick flash of light appeared and I began to count, “One Mississippi, two Mississippi…” KA-BOOM!

“Oh, man. It’s close.” I said as the low rumble kept on as I took a sip of my wine and put the glass on the side table next to me before rocking back in my rocker. “I’ve always loved a good thunder storm.”

“A good one?” Alex asked.

“You know. One that really shows it’s stuff.” I looked over at him. “Not a meek rumble in the distance but an up close and impressive BOOM!”

The air was beginning to cool as the wind began to pick up. “Oh, yeah! It’s coming through now.” I leaned back even further taking in a slow deep breath. “Doesn’t it smell good?” I asked as the smell of wet earth began to fill the air.

Alex nodded his head as another even louder clap of thunder rang through the air.

“I think it’s getting closer.” I reached for my glass of wine to take another sip.

By now all the wildlife had left the yard finding safety in the shrubs and trees until the storm passed.

The wind began to pick up, driving a mist of rain under the roof of our deck. I moved my chair closer to the middle trying to keep dry as another flash of light hit. Not even a second passed before the thunder erupted. “We’re in the middle of it now!” I cried as I sat back down in my rocking chair.

Alex pulled his chair further under the porch also trying to keep himself dry.

I reached for my glass again. “There’s something about all the power and energy happening right in front of us but we’re safe and out of harm’s way right here on our deck.”

Another crack of lightening followed immediately by a huge roll of thunder that actually shook the house. I was up and out of my seat in a flash my glass of wine still in my hand. “Okay, that’s enough for me.” I said as I headed for the kitchen door.

Alex was right behind me as we closed the door and I looked out into the back yard. “I swear that hit somewhere in the neighborhood.” I put my glass on the countertop and raised my hand to my chest. I looked over to Alex. “That really got my heart racing.”

Alex looked over at me and had to laugh. “I guess there’s a difference between a really good thunderstorm and one that scares you to death?”

“Hey, lesson learned on that one.” I grabbed my glass of wine and headed to the living room to watch the rest of the show out the front window, where it was safe.

I looked out my kitchen window and noticed something on one of the large oak trees in our back yard. It was about 50 feet up and scurrying around the trunk. “What is that?” I asked my son Alex as he came into the room. He came over next to me and looked out the window.

“Is it a bird?” I squinted as I tried to decide what type of bird moved like that.

“I think it’s a chipmunk.”

“What?” I went out on our back deck to get a closer look. Putting my hand up over my eyes trying to shade them from the sun, I could see that Alex was right. “I’ve never seen a chipmunk up that high in a tree before.” I looked over at Alex who was now standing next to me. “I always thought they were ground dwellers.”

“I think they usually are.”

We both watched as the chipmunk climbed higher and higher.

I winced. “Oh, man. What if he falls?” I looked back at Alex. “Have you ever seen a chipmunk up that high before?”

Alex shook his head no. “I had a feeling this was going to happen.”

Now I was confused. “You had a feeling what was going to happen?”

Alex pointed to the bird feeder container on the deck, that also had a bag of peanuts in it. “You’ve been tossing peanuts out to them for weeks.”

“So?”

Alex pointed to the oak tree. “You’ve been tossing them out by the tree.” He pointed up to the chipmunk. “Your little buddy there is trying to find out where they’re coming from.”

“Oh, man. That’s just great.” I couldn’t help but sigh. “Now if the little guy falls to his death it will be my fault.” I looked back up in the tree and called. “Hey! It’s me! I’m the one giving them to you!”

I went over to the bird food container and scooped a handful of peanuts from the bag. Going over to the edge of the deck I tossed them away from the oak tree and closer to one of our smaller pines. “There you go little guy. The pine trees the one raining peanuts!”

I looked over at Alex. “Do you think that will work?” I asked him.

Alex didn’t look convinced as he patted me on the shoulder. “Sure. He heard every word you said.”

I looked back up in the tree as the chipmunk climbed higher and higher. “Oh, come on!” I once again I pointed down to where I’d thrown the peanuts. “They’re down here!”

Alex tapped me on the shoulder and pointed to the spot where the peanuts were.

“Oh come on!” I cried again as I watched two squirrels, a cardinal and a blue jay eating all the peanuts. “I wasn’t feeding those to any of you!” I pointed back up at the chipmunk. “They’re for him!”

Alex was looking over at all the other wildlife eating away. “I can’t be positive, but I’m pretty sure they don’t understand a word you’re saying.”

My son Alex and I were sitting on our back deck when I leaned over to one of my pots of daylilies to move a vine of creeping jenny that had wrapped itself around one of the bright orange petals. “Aren’t they beautiful?” I asked.

Alex looked over and nodded. “They really have popped!”

“I’m glad I moved the pots up onto the deck this year.” I leaned back in my Adirondack chair and adjusted the small pillow behind my back. “Last year I left them down on the patio and the deer ate all the blooms from one of the pots.”

“Well, they look great this year.” Alex looked around the yard. “Hey, have you seen any chipmunks today?”

I looked around under the bird feeder where they usually liked to hang out. “Not yet.” I looked back at the daylilies “I can’t believe how strange everything feels this year.”

Alex laughed. “Really?”

I had to laugh, too. “I mean even something as simple as my lilies blooming.” I looked over at Alex. “When I was growing up we had a big patch of tiger lilies at the end of our driveway. When they bloomed it meant summer was almost here and school was about to get out.” I got up and went to the covered metal bucket we kept on the deck where I stored my bird seed. I lifted the lid and took out a zip-lock bag of shelled peanuts I also kept in there for the chipmunks. Opening it I grabbed a handful of nuts and went to the edge of the deck and tossed them out by the feeder. “We should see some chipmunks soon.”

Brushing off my hands I went back to my seat and and reached out to touch the lilies again. “That’s the reason I planted these pots. They reminded me of a really special time of year for me. This is the month I’d be busy getting ready for work in the morning and I’d look out the kitchen window and see the lilies popping and know summer was on it’s way and my school year was winding down.” I felt the silkiness of the petal. “Now it just feels weird.” I looked over at Alex.

“Well, summer is here and school is about to get out.” he reminded me.

“I know.” I sighed. “But I’m missing the excitement the end of a school year usually brings. The excitement from the kids. The excitement of the staff. It’s just so different this year. There’s no excitement. Everyone is just done.”

“Well I’m excited.” Alex said.

“About what?”

“Not having to tip-toe around the house while you’re in the middle of a Zoom meeting.”

I had to laugh. “That’s true. Nothing’s more professional than being in the middle of a parent meeting and hearing one of you guys call out, “What’s for dinner?”

Alex laughed. “Hey, that’s become a very important question these last few months. So’s what’s for breakfast and what’s for lunch?”

I just shook my head and laughed again. “Don’t I know it! I rattle one pot in the kitchen and all of you come running to see what’s happening!”

“See? It’s all about looking on the bright side.” He pointed over to the lilies. “Now that you’re home it’s just not mornings and late afternoons that you get to enjoy them. But the entire day!”

I nodded my head. “I have to say I do admire the way you think.” I looked over by the bird feeders. “Oh, look!” I whispered as I pointed to the spot where a chipmunk was sitting up on his hind legs stuffing a peanut in his mouth. “He found them!”

The tree service was going to be coming soon, so my husband Steven and I were standing in the back yard trying to decide which trees needed to be trimmed and which ones needed to be removed.

“There’s some dead branches in that one.” I said as I pointed up into the huge oak tree.

“Yup.” Steven marked it down on his pad.

He pointed his pencil to a tall but straggly pine. “If that falls over in a wind storm it could hit the house.”

I nodded in agreement.

Steven pointed to another tree on the side of our property. “What about that one?”

I looked surprised. “You mean the hummingbird tree?”

Steven looked over at me, the look on his face not showing much humor. “You know it’s dead, right?”

“Yes, but…” I looked over at the leafless tree and could still remember the first fall when I saw the scarlet maple, it had the most brilliant red leafs I’d ever seen. “The hummingbirds still use it. So do the red capped woodpeckers. They love it!”

Steven shook his head. “That’s because they love getting the bugs that live in dead trees.”

“See! It’s still needed!”

Just then our son Alex came out the back door. “What are you guys doing?”

“Your Mom wants to keep the dead tree.” Steven called.

“The hummingbird tree?”

“See!” I looked over at Alex. “Remember this morning when we were out on the deck and the crows…”

Alex interrupted me. “Oh man! I’ve never seen anything like it.” He looked over at Steven. “We were sitting out here and two crows came in and landed on the tree and began snapping twigs off it.”

“You could actually hear the twigs snapping!” I added.

“Then they flew off together with the twigs in their beaks.”

“They were pretty big twigs.” I looked over at Steven. “It was wild.”

“Okay, but we’re still taking about a dead tree in our yard.” Steven reminded us.

I knew he was right but I still felt some affection for the poor thing. “I guess.” I sighed.

Just as I looked over at the tree two mourning doves landed on a top branch and began cooing and moving their heads together. “Oh my gosh, would you look at that!” I pointed to the doves. “I’ve never seen the courtship dance before.”

We all stopped and watched as they continued their dance.

“There’s still so much life being lived on it.” I looked over at Steven.

“I promise I’ll get you a new tree.” he said. “One that will have leafs on it.”

“Oh, can it be another scarlet maple?” I asked.

“Sure.” he tapped his pencil against his pad. “So I can add it?”

I took one more look at my hummingbird tree. “I’ll miss you my friend.”

I looked back at Steven and nodded yes.

“Good decision.” he began to write on his pad.

I smiled as I rubbed my hands together. “I have to admit I’m already looking forward to seeing the new tree in the fall.”

Alex looked over at Steven. “Looks like she got over that one pretty quickly.”

I was in my bedroom, putting away the laundry when I noticed a small travel size container of hand sanitizer sitting on top of my jewelry box. I picked it up and went into the hallway. My son Alex was coming out of his room and I held up the container. “Do you know where this came from?”

“I got one, too.” He pointed over his shoulder into his room. “It must have been Dad.” Alex walked into the kitchen with me following him.

“What a sweet gift.” I said as I put it on the counter and went to get a glass from the cabinet. “Every time I’m at the grocery store I look for some but they’re always out.”

Alex shrugged his shoulders. “Everyone’s obsessing about keeping their hands clean.” He opened the refrigerator looking for something to snack on. He looked back at me. “I’ve got to admit I’m kind of liking it.” He closed the refrigerator and went over to the cabinet. “Who knew when all this pandemic stuff started that they would actually need to show videos of how to wash your hands.”

I shuddered. “It was a little unnerving. Are there really that many people who don’t know how to wash their hands?” I went over to the refrigerator to fill my glass with water.

Alex found a box of crackers and put them on the counter. “Do we have any cheese?”

“I’m pretty sure there’s a block of cheddar in the hydrator.” I leaned against the counter and took a sip of water while Alex went over to the sink to wash his hands. “So, what song to you sing while you wash your hands?’

Alex laughed. “Never had to do that. I’ve always seemed to know when they were clean.”

Just then Steven came into the room. “What’s everybody up to?”

I went over to the counter and picked up the hand sanitizer. “What a great gift!” I said as I went over to him to give him a quick hug. “Who knew that hand sanitizer was going to be right up there with flowers or chocolates on my gift list!”

Steven laughed. “I saw them at the check out at Staples and thought you’d get a kick out of it.”

I looked down at my red dry hands. “Between washing my hands and using hand sanitizer my hands are a dried out mess.” I felt an itch on the side of my face. “Oh, man!” I went over to the sink and loaded my hands with soap before turning on the water and quickly rinsing them off. Grabbed a paper towel and patted them dry before finally being able to scratch my face. “This not touching your face is getting old, too.”

Steven held up the hand sanitizer he’d just given me. “It might have been quicker if you’d used this.”