Dirt and Matchbox Cars

Now is the time where we're fired up to begin checking off all the things on our to-do lists we created from the warmth of our homes in the bitterness of winter.

One of those, for me, is to start my first garden.

I've been planning it since late summer last year—reading about soil prep, searching for beds, making a vision board of what I want to grow. But the reality is, I probably won't bring the full vision to life this year. Maybe a couple of raised beds. Maybe some blueberries, or herbs and flowers. We'll see.

For now, though, we just wanted to get outside and soak it in.

My boys went straight for the dirt. Ditching their Matchbox cars as they dug with tools they stored away from the last warm day. Nothing was left untouched; they scattered it all.

I brought my camera to capture it. Not just the playing, but the feeling of it. The light, the dirt on their hands, the beat-up orange toy race car that's been everywhere with us. I edited the images with a soft grain to make them feel like memory, because that's what they already are even though we just lived it.

This is what early spring looks like here. Not prepping the garden I've been planning or checking-off to-do lists. Just this: dirt, toys, and boys completely absorbed in the work of being outside.

The garden will happen when it happens. But in the meantime, this… this we enjoyed.

— G.