I stopped to see my friend John Riegel at Country Power Products yesterday, and he gave me a small basket of newborn pansies fresh from the greenhouse.

Flower season begins.

They can only go out for an hour or so a day and can’t yet be left out overnight or on cold and windy days.

Maria put them in the living room window. But it’s exciting for me, the first fresh flower picture of the season—more on the way. I’ll keep an eye on these new babies. They’ll go in one of the raised beds when they get bigger.

Soon, I’ll take the cardboard off the beds, add some raised bed soil, and mix the manure around..

John is my flower mentor and advisor.

He works out of an office that is my favorite office in the world. It’s his throne; he is always there, greeting every customer by name.

John comes from another age, the one before computers. He’s all about helping customers.

He may be the most excellent and hardest-working man in the world also. Saturday, he sold 1,000 chicks in his annual and popular chicken event. He is fascinated by my urban tales and sometimes horrified by my city ways.

But we love each other, and I love to sit in his office and yak when we have time. He’s always conscious of how fortunate he is and grateful for his life. It’s good to hear that, and rare.

He is also my hay provider for the farm. I’ll get some plants for him in May from his greenhouse for my raised beds.

He greeted every single person as they came in and thanked every single one as they left. Egg prices are high now, and people around her have decided to grow their own.

A few months ago, I talked John into going out to lunch with me; it was the first time in more than 50 years that he left the shop for lunch just for fun. I’m working on him doing it again.