Sunnyside

Friday afternoon brought beautiful sunshine and warm temperatures, and I was able to take full advantage of the weather by getting outside and raking the yard! Now, I know there are many of you who wouldn't think of raking as FUN, but you have to understand that "my grandmother was a raker". This sounds sort of like a political or religious statement, and I suppose in a way it really is. Rakers aren't actually a political party, or a religious sect, but if you know anyone who's a raker, you know that they have a way about them that could get them elected simply by their virtue and code of ethics!
My grandmother kept a tidy house, and an equally tidy yard. Her garden rows were straight, her fence was always painted, and her yard was spotless. I never really thought much about her raking abilities, I just accepted that it was part of who she was... no more or less a part of her than the fact that she wore glasses, or that her eyebrows were well formed.
As an adult, I was raking the yard in my raking kind of way, and my dad commented that I raked like my grandmother! How proud was I to have him compare me with her! I have two styles of raking, depending on the terrain and the vegetation. The aggressive raking de-thatches the lawn, rids flower beds of old leaves, and if the ground could speak, it would say something like 'Yahowza, that feels GOOD!'. The less aggressive raking style is reserved for soft or wet areas in the spring, or mossy vegetation, and really just gently brushes the bigger debris from the ground.
There's just something wonderful about the combination of sunshine & blue skies, warm temperatures and gentle breezes, and a rake in your hands. The payoff for all the hard labor is sitting back with a beer and surveying my little kingdom, knowing that soon the grass will be growing and the flowers will be blooming. And every spring, as I am raking the yard, I smile as I hear a little voice on my shoulder saying "Your grandmother was a raker too, you know".