All Creatures Great and Small

I was working in the garden today sifting the compost. Now, our compost is great. It has about equal portions dirt and earthworms. Earthworms are great for the garden, but the process of sifting the compost, however, is not great for the worms. Caitlin feels a personal obligation to rescue each and every worm from each scoop of compost that I put in the sifter. Every. Single. One. My daughter, the fairy-princess daughter, who judges clothing on its twirling potential, loves earthworms and cannot abide the idea of one becoming mush. And so, the sifting took a very long time. (At least while she was looking.)

I earned an exercise pass for the night as well. I took out our last thorny Japanese barberry bush, including the root. It was not easy. I am always amused at the gardening catalogs that show perfectly coiffed women in spotless pastel pantsuits kneeling on a padded bench amongst a bounty of blossoms holding a delicate pair of garden shears. Ha! In my yard, gardening is a full-contact sport. There is dirt, there is sweat, there is elbow-grease, there are mud-encrusted shovels and fearsome bypass loppers, there are shouts of challenge, of victory, and occasionally (especially when there are sticker bushes involved) there is blood.

And speaking of thorny bushes, what were the previous owners thinking!?! Who plants Japanese barberry? Those are some of the wicked thorns I've ever met. Needle-sharp and designed to pierce even the sturdiest garden gloves. Why? Clearly it was planted by people who hire lawn care services and spend the summer admiring their manicured yard from the comfort of their air-conditioned home. No one who actually spends time IN the yard, say playing baseball, catch, or soccer would plant child-hungry bushes everywhere.

Well, I'm done and I have totally earned the gorgeous chocolate mousse cup that Jeff brought me from Bonaparte Bread. And after I eat it, I may have to exercise anyway. Or find someone else with a Japanese barberry that needs taking down.