Rain.

After a sunny, beautiful weekend we have had... rain. And more rain. And then? Some more rain. Maybe to adults this is just part of the day, but to a toddler, rain is a chance to wear your rainboots, dress in your firefighter rain coat, and jump in a puddle. Or - as Mike discovered Wednesday morning - to get ready for school, put on your sneakers, make a run for it on your way out to the car, and jump in a puddle. Peter is umbrella-obsessed, to the extent that he likes to perch himself on the back of the trike, while Grace sits on the seat and pedals, and hold his umbrella over his head just in *case* of rain. (Perhaps you're thinking, hmm, two kids on a trike, pedaling down the sidewalk, one of them facing backwards holding an umbrella... doesn't sound so safe. To which I reply: Peter is very, very sturdy.)

More to the point, about the rain, we have no recent pictures to upload because it's not so fun to stand outside in the rain and take photos of your garden. But the update is good: the tree in the backyard which we planted a few months after moving in has survived another winter and is blooming with lovely pink flowers. The new shrubs do not lack for water. Some hyacinth bulbs I had given up on decided to make an appearance after all - they're vigorous and green and I hope the flowers are pretty. The daylillies are growing like crazy and look very nice, although they haven't sent up flower stalks yet. The daffodils are on their way out, the tulips have taken a bit of a beating in the rain, the seedlings are struggling bravely in the wet soil. Dandelions have sprouted all over the lawn, despite the weekend mowing, but all of the neighbors' lawns look just as bad, so we're not bothering to do anything toxic about it. I saw what *looked* like a lilac blooming in someone else's yard, but couldn't tell for sure, because I was in the car. Our lilac is nowhere near blooming, but we're waiting eagerly for it.

In amusing, only slightly garden-related news, a neighbor recently reported a conversation she had with a second neighbor about our family. The other woman asked our neighbor Charlotte whether our home was occupied by dwarfs. Astonished, Charlotte said no, but that we do have two children. Hmm, said the other woman. I saw them outside and thought they were dwarfs. The kicker? The woman in question taught school for *forty years.* Such is life on our odd little street.