This time of year, when the rains give way to sunny days, in my mind I always hear e.e. cumming’s poem in just spring. Those of you who’ve studied poetry remember cummings. He never capitalized his name or the titles of his poems which I could never get away with in English class! Here he is reading the poem:
In California a break in the rain this time of year brings this urgency to all gardeners: Quick: Pull the weeds while they’re young and tender and the ground is mudluscious!!!
Sure they’re cute in their infancy. So many brilliant shades of green particularly after four years of drought, it seems a shame to try to uproot them but if you don’t, they will grow like – well – weeds. And once the ground starts to dry your best chance to get rid of weeds is with a jack hammer.
Which brings me back to mud. I don’t view mud as icky. Especially when my mud is rife with worms.
Isn’t this a lovely shot of mud?
It will dry out quickly if the California sun continues to shine.
And then my battle will be hard. But today was a mudluscious day.
i wore my garden hat.
i listened
to the birds
and the boy practicing basketball
thump… thump… thump
and the creek, dry for years roaring to life.
and i said oh what the heck and started my day
in the lower case.
with the worms and the mud.
oh please wordpress – don’t ruin my mudlicious day by insisting i capitalize everything!
(although clearly I’m no e.e. cummings)
Now, the theory of proper blogging etiquette dictates that I end this blog with a question, thus encouraging comments, but the question “what do you think about mud?” really seems a bit daft, don’t you think?
Saying nothing in particular 
Great post, Jan! Made me smile. :O)
Thanks Colleen! : )
Hey, just for starters: Mud pies and mud castles come to mind. You can go mud surfing or have a mud tug-o’-war. Go for – or give – a mud facial (people even pay a bunch for it). And there’s nothing like the pure sensory squish of plain ol’ mud.
I’ve never been a fan of mud facials! That goes a little too far!
Terrific post, Jan and I love my new favorite word. It’s spring… I should have ample opportunity to use it..:)
Thank you.
Thanks George – yes, it’s a great word!
mud is awesome. mud slides and slippery trails in the woods make for the messy fun adventure
I’ve done a lot of sliding in the past couple of days! Hard not to as most of our back yard is a hill!
one just has to find one’s inner child. 😉
It is a lovely shot of the mud 😀
Haha! It’s hard to get a good shot of mud!
New rule. You no longer have to ask questions at the end of your blog, unless you really want to.
I like this new rule! Thanks!
Now I come to think of it, almost never!!!
; )
Fabulous! I’m off for a walk in the Cotswolds today, an area of outstanding natural beauty in the UK. If it’s anything like last week, it’s got lots of thick, clingy mud in fields and oozy slimey mud on tracks. At some point during the walk I just know I’m going to get my new favourite word out to describe the mudluscious conditions. X
I’m so jealous – I absolutely love the Cotswolds! Have a good time and make sure to post lots of mudluscious pictures!
What I want to know is how I can move a heap of mud around the garden, stuff I’ve sifted to a fine tilth and in seconds it’s rife with worms. Where do the little beauties come from. Same in my compost. A friend from your neck of the woods (out near Walnut Creek) visited last week. He was limping. How? He goes mountain biking and came a cropper in a patch of saturated adobe clay. Sounds like your rain has been unrelenting.
When wet, adobe clay is like slime! Right now we’re having a break in the rain but it’s coming back this weekend.
You’re definitely no e.e, cummings Jan. He would never have changed ‘fuck’ to ‘heck’.
Hey Colm! My mother sometimes reads the blog!
I like the mud fine. I enjoy mud as well. I love the smell of the fresh dark dirt we have here. May you have many muddy days on which to wear your garden hat 🙂
Thank you! I hope we do too. Droughts are the pits!
Well done ee!
Thanks Shelley!
Isn’t it a wonderful word – mudluscious! Gardeners and children can appreciate it 🙂
You really appreciate mud after a long drought!
Oh yes, cracked lifeless mud is something different.
Hi Jan …. that´s a great poem…. I am now thinking of one of my favorite poems by E. E. Cummings…. `- Somewhere I Have Never Travelled, Gladly Beyond´….
I loved reading your musings as well… Very nice post… all my best wishes, Aquileana 😀
Thank you Aquileana! All my weeding has given me poison oak – on the face! Ah well, the dangers of gardening.
Right now, living in California, it’s just wonderful to say we have mud!
How right you are!
:O)
Yuck–don’t like mud. But I can relate to your urge to pull those weeds while the ground is muddy. In fact, on my walks with Lucy-puppy, I have to hold back the urge to pull weeds in the gardens of my neighbors.
I know the urge! It becomes like a compulsion. Must weed!!! Must weed!!! ; )