Some enthusiasts are hobbyists. Some hobbyists are enthusiastic.
I’ve always tried to stand right in the middle.
I’m more of an enthusiast, and I’m mostly enthusiastic about things that don’t require spending thousands of dollars or practicing hard labor.
I’m enthusiastic about music and history, but I don’t hunt, and I’m not a carpenter by any stretch.
When you’re facing a two-week - maybe longer - stretch of sheltering in place, enthusiasm can start to run low after a while.
I decided a couple of weeks ago that since we were indeed trending toward some sort of shutdown that I needed to find a hobby.
And it needed to be something relatively cheap to do and something I could do with the whole family.
We have been immensely blessed with a large backyard, and I got to thinking that it might be nice to grow some vegetables and a few fruits this spring.
Heck, we might need the food for survival, and since toilet paper only grows on trees around Halloween, I figured gardening was the right call.
I made a trip to Sunflower Lumber to get some gardening tools, gloves, fertilizer and a few other things YouTube told me I would need.
I did call before digging, and learned all about what’s underground in my yard.
I am most thankful for Paul Putnam, who loaned me use of his tiller. I actually cranked the tiller and ran it for a while about two weeks ago, but I knew nothing of what I was doing.
So, back to YouTube I went.
For two weeks, the gloves, the seeds, the tiller, the shovels and rakes and implements of destruction sat idle.
And then came this past Saturday.
The weather was beautiful. The ground was dry. I had no excuses left.
I had to get out there and start tilling the ground.
So Callie, Ellie, Sarah and myself all went outside carrying our gloves, seeds, shovels and rakes and implements of destruction, and I pulled the tiller’s cable in an attempt to start it.
You guessed it. It wouldn’t start.
I tried for a good long time to get it to crank, and finally, in true Sling Blade fashion, I opened the gas cap to discover to my horror that it didn’t have any gas in it.
That meant a trip to town. So much for sheltering in place.
About 20 minutes later, I returned with the gas, and I filled up the tiller, and I finally officially broke ground on the Davis family garden.
Two hours later, I looked upon my masterpiece, only to realize that I now had to rid the 10 or so rows I had dug of grass and weeds.
So, Callie and I grabbed the shovels and rakes and implements of destruction and we began to clear out the garden, row-by-row, only to discover that we had made the classic rookie mistake of situating the upper third of our garden directly under a shade tree.
YouTube didn’t say anything about optimal shade.
Sarah, our 2-year-old, walked up with her Paw Patrol gloves on and said, “I’m ready to go to work, daddy.”
Ellie helped us put eggshells in the ground to prepare for the tomatoes (credit Paul with that tip).
We cleared the section we thought would get direct sunlight, and after three weeks, we finally took our potted tomatoes and peppers out of their pots and placed them into the ground.
And just like that, we became gardeners…and hobbyists.
COVID-19 is a terrible virus, and it’s forced us into some very uncomfortable living for the time being, but it’s also forced us to step up in some ways and be better for our families, our workmates and our communities.
When I’m old, I’m going to look at my garden and remember the reason I started one in the first place.
The memories of solitude, a world without live sports and not being able to go out for dinner will be distant, but I’ll remember planting those first seeds with my girls for the rest of my life.
By summer, we should have all manner of squash, peppers, beans, strawberries, watermelon and tomatoes.
We’ll probably have more than we could eat, so if you’re in the neighborhood, you can probably get anything you want from the Davis’ garden.
