Summatime: When the livin' is easy.

As the new (however slowly approaching!) growing season lingers, I am finding myself anxiously awaiting the promises of long summer days. The cooling down of the heat of the day will draw me out of my afternoon siesta. After I finish up my iced-chai tea and the chapter I am reading, I'll cruise over to the Main Street Community Garden. Every Thursday, I am guaranteed to encounter new and known, like-minded folks who share my values. I didn't know it at the time, but this is the community I sought when I moved here. As the kids cover themselves with dirt and share with me the many-legged creatures they have just discovered, I'll try to keep an eye on my pooch. I hope I get a chance to run into the little girls who live next door to the garden. I am so thrilled that they prefer to be outside instead of staying in on a beautiful summer day numbing their minds on some type of instantly gratifying technology. Every chance I get, I will introduce them to something new and help them to appreciate the time and work that goes into the creation of a summer's bounty. In exchange for yanking all of the goatheads they can find out of the soil, I will show them new herbs they should taste and send them home with an armload of veggies to share with their family for dinner. As the Cameron Place CSA members drop by to pick up their weekly veggie shares, I will get a chance to reunite with friends and chat with everyone about the upcoming weekend and the "going's on" in the Valley. I am looking forward to meeting this year's farm interns and to seeing how much everyone's babies have grown over the winter! As soon as the volunteers who made it to the garden finish up harvesting veggies to send to a local charity, I will choose a few varieties of ripe tomatoes, eggplant, and basil to feast upon later in the evening after the sun has gone down. As I bike down to Main Street to join friends for a cool drink and some people-watching at the Farmer's Market, I will count my blessings and thank my lucky stars for the joy and happiness to be found in the dirt of the Main Street Community Garden!