Car Keys

 Memorial Day weekend is the traditional start of summer activity in our area. State parks open for the summer and everyone breaks out the swimsuits and camping gear. Mowing the lawn is now a chore most of us have to deal with also. I would rather do that than shovel snow anytime.  And let's not forget to get the garden planted. There are a lot of people out there who take their gardening very seriously. Those are the gardens that do not have a single weed or rock in them. The rows are perfectly straight and labeled. Every plant is pampered to perfection. They have state of the art fences for pest control. Some even have a flowered border. 

 Then there is my kind of garden. A few weeds here and there, crooked rows, a rock or two. There was a time when I wanted a perfect garden. I tried but it just didn't work out. I first picked out a spot that looked suitable for a garden. Lots of level ground, good sunlight and fertile soil.

 I borrowed a rototiller from a neighbor to get things started. It was an old one but quite large with long handles. 

 I picked it up with my truck and got it home where I had my first experience with a tiller. I thought I was in good shape at the time but this thing wore me out! I was starting to get second thoughts already. 

 I loaded the tiller back on my truck and returned to the neighbor's house. Since it was self propelled, I used two boards for a ramp to load and unload it. I was quite worn out from tilling all afternoon and I was glad to return the machine so I could go home and rest. I put the ramps down and got up into the back of the truck where I started the tiller and headed down the ramps. I had the long handles of the tiller under my armpits so I could control it better. One of the ramps slid off the back of the truck and by the time I saw the board on the ground, it was too late. 

 The front of the tiller dropped off the back of the truck which made the handles go straight up in the air. Remember they were in my armpits? I shot up in the air, did a perfect flip and landed on the ground with a thud.  Fortunately the tiller and myself were ok. I was starting to ask myself if I really wanted a garden that bad. I figured since I had gone this far I may as well keep going. I can't remember everything I planted in that garden but I do remember someone making fun of my corn. When I proudly picked the first ear off of the stalk, it looked like the little ears of corn you find in Chinese take out. The tomatoes rotted and something ate all the beans. I`m not sure if there was anything else. It was hard to see through all the weeds. The only thing that was any good was Swiss Chard and I didn't even like it anyway. 

 I realized after that experience that I did not have a green thumb.

 These days I may have a tomato plant on my window sill or maybe one pumpkin plant but that's about it. I'm not dedicated enough to have a perfect garden. My hat is off to those who do. It is more work than you can imagine.  When I want to putter around I still end up tinkering on something mechanical. Does that mean instead of a green thumb I have an oily thumb?