April 20, 2024
Spring Saturday
I woke up feeling rested and ready for a cup of coffee. The morning brew would have to wait, however. We had an emergency in the house: my wife woke up hungry, starving. Like a firefighter preparing for the quick departure out of the station to go face the flames, I got dressed as fast as I could before sprinting out the door to the truck. I was hungry too.
The drive to Wilson was picturesque. Various shades of black and white filled the sky with dramatic clouds, while a thick fog enveloped the entire area. The scenery brought a calm but slightly eerie feeling. The pleasant sight of colorful flowers, however, broke the monotone drabness of the fog and clouds. Whether people planted them in their yards or they were wildflowers planted by nature, the drive revealed a variety of shapes, sizes, and colors of myriad flowers. The trip was quiet, and there were barely any cars on the roads to and from the restaurant.
On the way home, we turned down the main paved road that lead to our property and spotted a familiar friend, Garbage. Garbage was a small, long-haired, gray outdoor cat that my wife always stopped to pet. She named the cat Garbage after an episode of The Office. I pulled the car onto the shoulder and turned off the engine. As soon as my wife got out of the car, Garbage sprinted toward her with its tail up in the air. Garbage loved my wife and the treats she had brought. Both of our cars always had cat treats packed away, specifically for this occasion. After they said their hellos, my wife got back into the car and we completed the drive home.
When we arrived, we found the culprit responsible for the fragrant floral aromas in the area. The chinaberry trees on the property were in full bloom with their lilac-colored flowers. These trees were on the west side of the tree line, growing as tall as fifty and sixty feet high. There was also a large chinaberry on the north and east sides of our backyard. Together, the blossoming trees emanated an intoxicatingly sweet smell.
My wife took the dogs outside and then called me shortly after. Koda found a baby rabbit bedded down near a shed. It was a miracle the mutts hadn’t killed it. I passed my leather work gloves to my wife, and she carefully picked up the tiny kit, which was the size of a large hamster. She carried the small creature until it unexpectedly jumped from her hands. My wife let out a shrill and the tiny rabbit we thought was too young to move on its own sprinted away, running as fast as an adult rabbit. We laughed and felt relieved the bunny was going to be okay. If it had not frozen when the dogs found it and tried to run, they would have certainly killed it. Nature’s wisdom was always showing her face. While checking the fence area where the rabbit escaped, we found our first signs of honeysuckle growing. My wife was thrilled.
While walking around the yard, we stopped by the garden area we built last year. The garden beds were full of lettuce and arugula that sprouted up. Soon, we would plant vegetables in the raised beds. Near the garden gate, my wife spotted a large earthworm. I grabbed it and threw it inside one of my worm bins. They could probably use some fresh DNA. To my surprise, the vegetable scraps in the worm bins were completely gone. A few weeks ago, they were full of food.
My wife and I took a walk through the forest, bringing Kilo along with us. She was super excited and sported a bright florescent orange vest my wife had recently purchased. As soon as we entered the grove, we heard deer in the woods. Kilo went stiff, smelling the air, and then gave chase. She’s almost eight, but ran off like a spry puppy. I was surprised by how far I could see her bright vest through the woods. After a few minutes, she came back huffing and puffing, but ready to blow the house down.
We walked a hundred yards and another herd of deer was somewhere east of us. Kilo shot into the woods like a bullet. When she returned, she was out of breath and her tongue had grown several inches. Near the creek, where there are large tulip trees, my wife found a whole tulip tree flower on the ground. I had found single petals, but never an entire blossom. She set the flower into the deep creek water where it floated, looking like a lotus. We saw several other types of flowers on the way back home. I forgot how interesting spring was, and how quickly the forest changed.
After we arrived home, my wife made iced lattes, and we sat out on the deck sipping them, my wife in the hammock and me in a chair. The dogs were outside, running around the yard. It was a quiet, lazy day. After the sun’s brightness had wearied my eyes, we moved inside, where my wife made a shopping list while I dozed off with Bodhi, my head resting on his dog bed.
My wife left to shop for groceries while I raided the old produce from the refrigerator. There was lettuce, carrots, and several cucumbers, which I cut into small pieces, placing all the food in a plastic bag. After I carried the bag to the worm bins and spread the vegetables evenly among the three bins. This would give them plenty of food for the next couple of weeks. I went inside the house, grabbed a ball cap, my folding knife, and headed to my car with plans of doing a little fishing at Buckhorn Reservoir.
I drove into Kenly to Papa Jack’s, where I usually bought snacks and modest fishing supplies. As soon as I pulled into the parking lot, however, I remembered an article in the local newspaper that said Buckhorn was going to be closed for a boat racing event. I pulled up the information on my iPhone and found out that the race was scheduled for this weekend. The lake would be closed until Monday. I considered driving into Wilson to fish at the Wiggins Mill Reservoir, but decided it was a little late. I opted to go back to the house, where I planned to do a little work, hoping to earn a cold beer in the evening.
After grabbing my headphones and work gloves, I jumped onto the riding mower and began cutting the grass in the pasture. When my wife arrived home with the groceries, I drove the mower to the house and parked it so I could help her unload. After, I went back to mowing, riding for another hour before the gas ran out. I refilled the tank with a gas can I kept in the barn and kept mowing, finishing the pasture, and then calling it quits. From now until fall, we would need to cut sections regularly to prevent the grasses from growing out of control.
When I got back to the house, I drank some cold water and then sat down with a cup of coffee and pastry my wife brought back from the store. After, we took some things my wife bought to the grove for the animals. There were several ears of corn, a bag of apples, and eggs. We also took a whole loaf of French bread we never got around to eating. After we arranged all the food in the forest, we continued walking along the trails.
The forest was quiet as we made our way toward Beaver Tooth Rock. My wife found another tulip tree flower and placed it in the creek beside the first flower, which was still floating. When we got to the large boulder, we sat down, communicating in whispers. After a few minutes, we heard a movement in the woods and saw two deer drifting slowly through the ravine. They never barked or ran. After, we made our way back to the house, fending off the spider webs we walked into, despite using a long stick to ward them off. My wife walked through a web and a spider landed on her back. Without thinking, I watched my hand reach out quickly, grab the spider, and toss it off to the side. Reflexive instincts seemed to operate outside of my conscious control, probably a good survival trait for humans to have.
In the evening, we sat outdoors, taking in the amazing smells of the chinaberry blossoms while cooking salmon and skirt steak on the grill. I finally got my cold beer, which I guzzled down with delight, while watching a pair of blue herons fly over the forest. We ate dinner outdoors and then walked a few laps around the freshly mowed pasture. After, my wife took a bath while I wrote before taking a shower and crawling into bed beside her, ending a perfect and typical spring Saturday.