Trowel in One Hand, Rake in the Other

In the autumn, those still-falling leaves become an annoyance. How many times does one have to untangle them from shrub branches?  In the spring, it's another matter. I couldn't wait for the weather to cooperate long enough to, you guessed it, untangle last fall's leaves from around our shrubs' branches. There's something about spring that just makes me want to get my face close to the ground and smell the rich, musky aroma of the soil. We live in a condominium where there isn't much opportunity to do yard work, but what little I could do, I was out doing it recently. I also swept the sand from the garage floor and cleaned the inside of my car (including deep cleaning the driver's side floor mat and removing last year's state park sticker). Then, Larry and I wandered our condo association's grounds, making the "official" list of projects for spring and summer. This year, they range from touch-up painting to shrub trimming to re-seeding and fertilizing the lawn. As I take my evening and weekend walks, I see other eager beavers out in their yards, trowel in one hand, rake in the other, thankful that another winter has passed and the hope of spring has sprung forth.