Commonplace Miracle

I planted some more of my garden tonight-- beans, pumpkins, chard, carrots, basil. Planting seeds seems like such a strange thing to do-- take this shriveled little thing and put it in the dirt and cover it over and put some water on it. I always think they can't possibly grow, and I'm always amazed when they do. I will be even more amazed this year because my kids are probably going to trample them to death as soon as they do sprout. I've Got to get that lock for my garden gate!

I am thinking of the Frog and Toad story my kids love about Toad's garden, how he says, "Okay seeds, start growing!" and when they don't grow he reads to them and sings to them and plays his violin to them until they finally sprout. If you haven't read it, you need to.

Another one of my favorite books is Unclaimed Treasures, by Patricia McLachlan. I just reread it a couple days ago, actually. In the book Willa's twin brother draws a picture of the garden before the seeds start to grow-- just the bare dirt. His mother looks at it and says "where's the rest of it?" because she doesn't understand that it's all there under the surface, unseen but vital.

Amazing things are going to be happening in my plot of dirt over the next few months.