I guess I am a proud papa gardener. My raised bed Zinnia garden, the first of my life that I planted, weeded and grew by myself yielded its first bouquet this morning.

The sound of Maria’s scissors snipping was a sweet sound. This was a mild, even simple introduction to personal gardening for me.

I learned how much we gardeners come to love their gardens. I learned how hard we have to fight for them.

I admit to loving learning things, the older I get, the more I want to know. I dislike stasis. Standing still, listening to perpetually pissed peckerheads is the first death.

Looking at these beautiful flowers, they are my children in a way, I see why it’s worth all the trouble – the worrying, the weather, the heat, the cold, the rain, the bugs, and beetles.

And finally, these beautiful flowers, which I brought into the world as seeds, planted, watched over daily, watered, moved, agonized, fended off the dryness and the rains.

I made a lot of mistakes and learned from them Hell, yes, I’l be tending to these all Summer, I am already thinking of getting some donkey manure into the bed for next year and thinking about flowers to see which one I want to put in the garden next yeaer.

I am proud of myself. The flowers are beautiful. I’m working on next year’s planting date. The end of May at the earliest.

There is really nothing comparable to introducing new life into the earth, plant, lamb, flower, donkey, dog..

Moving to the country was the best decision of my life. It led me to color, nature, the blog, my dogs, my donkeys, my photography, my farmhouse, my quite wonderful wife.

My life began in 2000, I can’t wait for the rest of it.