A few ticks and a rash

It occurred to me that it has been two weeks since I have written. I've had some things on my mind that have kept the words inside, but it is time to dive back in...not because I have anything earth shattering to say, but because if I don't, I just may never.

So in case you don't already know, it is tick season again in our neck of the woods. Oh, I would love to blame it on someone else's woods, but unfortunately it is my own backyard...backyard, front yard...I wouldn't even really call it a yard. Landscaping was the first thing to go when I became a single mom. I know there are single parents out there who can do it all...work, kids, housekeeping, landscaping, and even manage going back to school at the same time...but that isn't me. So I got rid of the flowers (or rather they died, along with the rest of the shrubbery I'd planted years ago) and I decided to just deal with grass...only it isn't grass...it's weeds and poison ivy...and I don't deal with it...unless I am guilted into it.

Last week I bought some zinnia seeds, and sunflowers and moonflowers (my absolute favorite), and today I actually dug a raised bed in the spot I swore I would never dig again (it is much easier to push the lawn mower right up under the porch than it is to pull weeds in a flower bed). I had to haul in extra dirt which I dug from the ditch that invisibly separates the field from the yard. I apparently ventured into tick haven and through poison ivy wonderland on my way ferrying the dirt to what will eventually become the weedy flower bed. I am hoping that I have all the ticks off me, and that octagon soap really does remove the poison ivy oil...but something tells me I am going to be itching tomorrow. I don't like even thinking about that.

The good news is that I am even actually thinking about flowers again. I'm not even going to attempt getting inside my head to understand why. Maybe it's love :-). Bright, cheery flowers make me happy, and I will be glad to see them growing in front of the dilapidated porch...and I am hoping that the moonflower vines will grow all around it, and late on a summer evening I will sit out there and look at the stars with a glass of wine while the sweet scent of moonflowers wafts thru the air...it's worth a few ticks and a rash.