Less than picture perfect

Dear Kristina,
In a previous post, you asked me to share pictures of my garden. The garden you poured sweat and blood into while turning it from sod into workable ground.
This is an extremely reasonable request, and while I would be happy to oblige you, there is a problem.
See, my dog ate it monster aliens from outerspace descended and took the whole garden it is embarrassingly infested with weeds it is less than pristinely weeded right now. Its ugly, ok?? While I dream of beautiful, flower and vegetable filled gardens, the reality of my garden is much more hodge-podge and helter-skelter and weedy than my dreams. Alas, packets of seeds were "planted" by my son in strange areas and there are now tufts of errant pea plants here and there in the carrot patch. The carrot patch itself so sparsely sprouted that it looks as if it hs undergone chemo. My poor tomatoes, while off to a vigorous start a month ago, have wilted and as Ryan puts it, become "so sad". Sadie took a nap in my onion patch. In short, I would no more show you an overall picture of my garden than say, an overall picture of my kitchen after canning these peaches. Peaches: Pretty. Kitchen: Scary.
This is not to say that my garden is without beauty. There are bright spots. The zucchini, as you can see in this picture, are faring quite well. The cucumbers started flowering this week, and the green beans and peppers would make any gardener proud. My garden, one might say, has a special, inner beauty. And it will make wonderful food. Which I will also share through pictures. As a consolation, here are pictures of your extremely dirty nephews after a few hours of playing in the garden. Personally, I think it takes talent to smear dirt in so many places. But, that's just me. I'm a girl, and I don't always understand these things.

Love,

Your Sister

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Yesterday I was making dinner on the grill and looked out for my eldest charge. It took awhile to spot him because instead of running around with Sadie, picking tomatoes or raspberries, riding his bicycle, getting the mail or gathering eggs, he was simply sitting in the shade of a tree.

I noted his lack of motion and kept an eye on him for a few more moments. You don't realize what kind of constant motion they are in until they stop. Even a few moments throws me off guard. When I could no longer contain myself, I called out to him. He said he was "just sittin' and thinkin'."

How 'bout that? Old enough to ponder life, listen to the birds and enjoy a mid-summer breeze. And immediately it made me wonder what on earth a three year old has to ponder.

He sat there, silent, for maybe five minutes before deciding he would go pick some raspberries to share with us for dinner. Of course none of us ever saw these raspberries. I understand, though. Sometimes I think I am going to make cookies for the whole family, and instead I make a bowl of dough for myself.

*note Sadie in the background, never far from Ryan when he is outside. Probably both for companionship as well as protection.