back to school

so we've moved four blocks south and a block and a half east - more on that later - and our new backyard shares a fence with the elementary school playground. on the first day of school i heard a swarm of first grade voices yelling, 'all aboard!' then lots of laughing and screaming. i looked out the window to see 2/3 of the grade on the merry-go-round! it was awesome!

i'm pretty sure these merry-go-rounds have been banned from most school playgrounds so it was good to see that Ephraim Elem. still has one (for better or worse).

of course seeing this brought back all sorts of memories. during the early grades my favorite place to play was the monkey bars. i tried to do a 'cherry drop' once and got the wind knocked out of me when i landed in the gravel on my side. then in 3rd and 4th grade i was pretty much the rockin'est 4-square player in the whole grade.

but when i think of 'back to school' there are a few things that stand out in my mind:

the smell of freshly mowed grass
brand-spankin'-new clothes
Pee-Chee© folders

i wish i could get my hands on some Pee-Chee folders. the doodling possibilities are endless!

i love this girl!

ode to the garden

when we lived in Salt Lake on 2nd Avenue i grew tomatoes and basil plants in terra cotta pots on our balcony. i think i got five tomatoes... it was great! here in Sanpete where rent is cheap and land is abounding we've planted a 300 square foot garden with corn, pumpkins, zucinni, beans, peppers, peas, carrots, onions, potatoes, radishes, turnips, sunflowers, and of course, tomatoes and basil. this is the third year with our garden and i feel the need to sing its praise (with photos).





there really is nothing better than a garden tomato.