Planting flowers is easy (05/07/07)

It's a good thing I get my meat from a grocery store. I can't even hit my brother with a water balloon fired from a super duper slingshot. I can't imagine trying to murder an animal with a bow or even with a gun. I'd either starve to death or become a vegetarian. Wait a minute - I'd starve even if I did become a vegetarian as there are a limited number of veggies that I will eat.

We went to Mom's last weekend for my brother's birthday. He liked the water balloon slingshot/launcher I had ordered for him. He filled up the balloons while his son fired them at me. Thank goodness he is a lousy shot.

Then I tried. The first one went "plop," and landed at my feet. It didn't break so I pushed the balloon back into the cradle of the slingshot and pulled back the thingy and let go. That time I managed to lob one a whole five feet away while they made fun of me for being a wimp. We eventually got the hang of it but the only thing we could hit was my other brother's car. We were aiming at each other. The only time we got wet was while we were filling the balloons.

It was a gorgeous day and we had a ball splattering Mom's lawn with biodegradable orbs. Then we exchanged plans on the upkeep of her house and yard. I usually clean when I go down there as it is getting increasingly difficult for her to do it herself. Besides, it is easier than cleaning my own house.

I plan to buy a couple of flats of flowers this weekend and plant them for her as her Mother's Day present. Her flower bed is a mess so I need to remember to buy peat moss and fertilizer as well as top soil to amend the rock-hard clay. The traumatic part will be ousting the bunnies that have taken up residence; traumatic for the rabbits not for me.

Some of my favorite memories involve the annual planting of the tractor tire we used to use as a flower bed. Some years it was white and some years it was silver. Our cows generously provided plenty of fertilizer for the posies that we interred. At the time almost every farm around had one of those painted tires in the front yard. I haven't seen one in years. I guess that fad has passed. Now it seems that well-dressed lawns sport little statues and doodads rather than old tires filled with pansies.

Mom still has the huge kettle we used for watering the cows. It has a lovely patina of rust now. If the bees haven't taken over already I may fill it with petunias like she used to do after the cows all became hamburger. The bees and wasps have gotten to it before I have for the last several years so I may be too late for that. I can't do petunias at my own house. They hate it and refuse to grow.

It seems like I am constantly trying to recreate the good parts of my youth and for whatever reason I associate happiness with posies. I read somewhere that people who have flowers in their houses are happier than ones who don't. Of course, the study was probably funded by the florist industry or some such.

Mother's Day is a good time to plant flowers in my mother's backyard because flowers make her smile. It is my way of thanking her for everything she has done for me throughout the years. She took care of me as best she could and now it is my turn to do what I can to make her life easier.

Part of making her life easier is by us not throwing water balloons at her. She stayed safely in the house while the water war was going on. She doesn't have enough strength to join in the roughhousing like she used to. She is content to watch us play while she gives us advice about how best to use a slingshot.

I'm sure she will give even more advice about how to plant the flowers I buy for her. I'm much better at planting posies than I am at firing slingshots.[[In-content Ad]]