On this dreary winter day I had to close my eyes and think of something special.
My Grandfather's Garden
Just a sun tanned kid hanging out with her Pap clad in denim overalls,
Two smiles walking from the garage to the green patch sewn next to the huge pine trees,
Grandma is not going to turn the oven on in this heat so we are going picking,
Green then brown go the neatly hoed rows,
The tomatoes stalks are tall and staked with twine off a ball,
Red, heavy tomatoes hang off the vine and leathery, yellow green veins crack the tops of their skin,
Giant, lazy zucchini hide under large stems and leaves,
Bushy delicate leaves clustered together have long beans dangling,
The corn is young yet still the stiff, sturdy vegetable standing erect,
I walk behind Pap as he inspects and I jump in delight as I see a flash of slithering green!
He quickly plants a foot forward in the dirt and grabs it. A garden snake wiggles at the end of his hand as if on a fishing hook, neat!
The lettuce determines dinner,
Pap says it's time to pick or they will get larger and acidic,
I have a wooden basket cuffed under my arm and I am ready,
So it's leafy lettuce and luscious tomatoes Pap drops in the basket,
BLT sandwiches and he picks more tomatoes for Grandma to marinate for tomorrow,
He picks a couple zucchini to take to his Mom and the basket starts to get heavy,
We keep going to the end and he points up at the pine trees and laughs,
Look we have gourd stalks climbing the trees!
I give him my big grin, I just love being with him,
We walk back to the house and I ask him if I can water the garden tonight and of course he says, yes.
