Can We Talk 2

Digging in the Dirt

         Why is it so satisfying to dig in the dirt? To get your hands dirty and plant things or to pull stuff you don't want to grow? Why does dyed mulch please the eye so much?

         I don't do it to keep up with the neighbors or to brag about it. Sometimes I wish someone would notice my hard work and pay a compliment, but it doesn't happen. I am not going to win any prizes for outstanding blooms or best produce. The work has to be for the sole satisfaction of doing it. I only have to meet my own standards, no one else's. I stay out to nearly dark, dodging gnats, and getting cold. But I do feel a satisfaction I don't get from many other things. Lawn work is a solitary activity.

         I am stumped by transplanting peonies. I can't get them out of the ground without destroying them. I have a trench around a clump of them. I figure they've been there 15 years or more. They're intertwined which I'm told is normal. They are shallow, but I can't get the shovel underneath them. I'm told to get the whole clump up, then separate them. But I just can't get them up out of the ground, no matter how deep I go. That's frustrating.

         I'm doing much better with irises in a back yard bed, and begonias and geraniums in pots. I have to bring those in for the winter. I admit I do take some pride in having them survive from year to year and look beautiful. No one cares but me, but that's okay.