The First Garden Centre Run of the Year

There is a specific kind of errand that does not feel like an errand.

Coffee in hand, Landon beside me, no particular schedule. The first garden centre run of the year. We usually hit several. Not just because not everyone carries coleus — my husband is particular about coleus — but because one is never enough (for me, lol). Each one is different. You never know what you will find in the back corner of the third place you stop.

The yard is still a bit of a disaster from fall. Things that needed digging up before the snow came did not get dug up before the snow came. That is a May problem now and I am fine with that.

Lavender and rosemary go in at the door first. Every year.

Then mint, because I want tea from the garden all summer and it takes approximately no effort. Then tomatoes, because everyone does tomatoes and I am not above it, and both Rune and I LOVE THEM. Rune is a GARDEN FIEND. The rest gets decided in the moment, whatever looks good, whatever I do not already have too much of.

This is the part of May I look forward to most. Dirt under my fingernails, a coffee going cold, a flat of plants in the back of the car. Something to tend. Something to look forward to.

Sometimes connection is just a Saturday morning and someone you love.