The Stapley garden

Here it is -- my parents' amazing garden! I love this place. Often, I find myself sitting on the back porch, just staring out at the garden, imagining a stalky cowboy with curly brown hair riding his horse through the cornstalks while singing, "Oh, what a beautiful mornin'! Oh what a beautiful day! I've got a beautiful feelin', everythin's goin' my way!" Sometimes the memories flood of my wedding day, with a pink sunset and colorful daisies everywhere. (We had our reception in my parents' backyard.)

My parents put A LOT of work into thier yard -- my Dad plants the seeds and my Mom makes everything else look beautiful. Ben and I even put in our share of work on the garden this summer by constructing these two bird houses for my Mom.

An important rite of passage: No BYPoo lovers allowed! J/K. This place is kind of like a sanctuary for me. Where "the corn is as high as an elephant's eye," (almost) you can sit back, let the sun warm (or burn the skin off) your face, and listen to the sounds of the wind breezing through the trees and plants. It is very peaceful.

I find it mystifying that such tiny little things like seeds, along with the soil, air and sun, can grow into big, leafy, colorful crops that we can eat! Does anyone remember Bugs Bunny from the Loony Toons? Well, whenever he pulled out a big orange carrot and started cruching away at it, I thought he made it look so delicious! I think it was the cruching sound effects. And when I eat a carrot out of my Dad's garden, I feel like I'm eating one of Bugs Bunny's yummy treats.

Here are the pretty parts that are my Mom's doings. Her daisies are my favorites!

My hope is that, someday, I can create something half as awesome as what my parents have done! I've got a lot to learn, though. My Dad allowed Ben and I to plant some winter squash, cantelope, and watermelon seeds in the back corner of the garden, and guess what! They DID NOT grow! My Dad claims the soil back there is bad, but it worries me some. What's the opposite of a "green thumb?" I'm affraid I may have that.

Now all my parents need is a "pretty little sury with some fringe on the top" and an Aunt Eller to finish it all off.