While we were on vacation, our yard was magically transformed from one with builder’s grade holly bushes and juniper stumps to one with two full beds around the two main edges of the house, a new tree, and new beds under the existing tree and by our mailbox.

It’s been exciting for many reasons.

First, I finally feel like the neighborhood has evidence that we care about how our house looks. Those stumps have been out in the yard for about a year, and no matter if Megan prefers that to the alternative, it’s still tacky.

Second, the plants themselves are very nice. I felt like Kathy really listened to us and knew what we wanted. That really showed up in the final results.

Third, I’ve never really had such visible evidence of “Wow, I watered it and now it’s really growing!” It’s a bonding experience, espcecially for such a techie like myself. We have some really excellent rose bushes! They are a new kind of rose, apparently, and they’ve already taken off.

Finally, the watering and weeding (at this point) is very centering for me. Spending a few minutes thinking of nothing besides covering some beds with water is very Zen like. I’ve even done some weeding over the past couple of days—it’s so frustrating to see some stupid onion shoots in the middle of all those beautiful plants!