It’s officially spring---in every way. Not only have we experienced the equinox, seen the sun—briefly, but it was THERE—started our lawn mowers, noted the return of the robins and wondered if we should hang our hummingbird feeders and documented the various blooms and buds in our gardens, but ----sorry for the run-on sentence but I’m pretty excited about the ULTIMATE sign of spring---but I saw my first dandelion this weekend! 

And right after I saw My First Dandelion, I saw my second. And my third.

Yup. It’s spring.

And I have a confession to make. For all my big talk about growing grass and starting lawnmowers I have yet to get mine to fire up. Last fall I gave my machine a week’s stay at a fancy lawnmower spa---or a tune-up, whatever--- and when it when it returned to me I very carefully parked it in the garage and ignored---as one does--- it until the sun came out. One weak cough when I turned the key was the only response I got. Alas, it seems my lawnmower requires either a jump or perhaps a new battery. Coaxing didn’t seem to work. 

Abby and Annie

So, rain or shine, mow or no mow, my grass will keep growing and the dandelions will keep blooming. I remind myself that dandelions are good for the bees and if I miss the brief window of opportunity to mow my grass between showers, no problem. I have plenty of neighbors that have cows and tractors and will probably be happy to “hay” my front yard come June.I used the time I would have spent mowing my grass to work on cleaning up my flowerbeds. Removing the dead stalks that they elk didn’t eat made my gardens look much better, even if the “lawn” surrounding them were a bit “native” and “enthusiastic."