The week passed very quickly.  It was Thursday before I realized the Tuesday had ended.  We did lots of “things.”  We both struggled with the transition from school life to vacation life.  As much as Julia has transition challenges, my transmission faulted time and time again and I did grind the family gears repeatedly as we sought the new normal.

During the week, I finished the big spring garden job of mulching.  With Julia’s help and forbearance.  On one hand, I hate the specificity of the process–clear all weeds, dig the defining trench and heap on the chips hauled in black plastic bags from our free town mulching site.  On the other, I get to make many garden decisions–what is weed, when is overgrown, what is taking over.  I get to edit my garden.  And I get to interact with every plant–congratulating the delphinium in glory, enouraging the new hollyhocks, clearing space for the little holly in the back garden and appreciating the bed that is growing up surrounding David’s bench.  To do all of this, with Julia either helping or sitting doing math and reading near by is no small task.  And we did it. Continue reading →