joy

Harvesting his first watermelon

My cheerful, insightful, smart and creative son turns 12 today. As an infant we joked that he was born with the “happy gene” as he soaked up his surroundings with a positive, mellow and inquisitive outlook. His tantrums were few, even at two. When he fell, his cries lasted a few seconds. My son was joy, personified.

As it turns out, he was also born with the “gardening gene.” Sure he liked the toy aisle at Target, but the seeds were his favorite. We came home with many a packet of sunflower, pumpkin and carrot seeds, full of optimism and good spirit. His grandfather would be proud. During the Santa years, I mail-ordered his pumpkin seeds so they looked just a little different from the seeds we bought in town. The jig is up, but the pumpkin-seeds-in-the stocking tradition lives on.

Here are a few pics of my joyful gardener over the years.