Spring Killed My Babies!

Despair to the tenth degree. I have been nursing my precious heirloom tomato seeds to health since the day that I received them in the mail from their original home in Pennsylvania Amish country. When the envelope arrived, I literally gave it a hug. I planted my new seeds with care and affection, waited and waited. Gave up but still waited. Then I gave up for real. Then I came back to remove the dead seeds...or so I thought! I had sprouts!!!! I was so excited I can't even tell you. Ever since the day that I got my first two sprouts I've been taking what I like to call as "roll call." I've kept copious records of how many seedlings I had in each cell each day. Everyday there were more and it was something that I really looked forward to. It symbolized progress.


One night I heard my cat Charlee crackling around on something. When I saw that some of my delicate tomato seedlings were broken and dangling from their dismembered stem, I felt pure rage and Charlee knew it. I just had to walk away from her because as other owners of mischievous pets may feel from time to time, I didn't want to do something that I would regret. In the morning I reevaluated the sad situation and decided to leave the broken stems on their side and burry them under soil just leaving the leaves exposed. By the next day everything was back as it should have been.

The buried seedlings looked healthy and happy and then I was happy. It has been about two weeks of only good news on my daily roll calls. Until today when I came home from work.

Literally the sun was only out for about two hours today. Spring had sprung. Jasmines were in full bloom and fragrance clung to the air just as their tendrils clung and draped from fences. I smelled honeysuckle for the first time in a year. That is one of those special smells that instantly brings me back to my childhood, at my grandma's house, pure joy. We used to pick the flowers and then gingerly pull out the stamens drawing out the single drop of nectar to place on our tongues. That taste is amazing and the smell of the flowers brings it all back. It was a good day but then I was thrown back to reality. I found some seedlings lying down in their soil as if they were ready to be thrown into a grave. The leaves were wilted in some cases and in others it was even more dire, they were crisp.

What to do? I just want to give up. Start over? Or, I can just wait, wait, give up, wait, and then be pleasantly surprised. Naw, that doesn't happen more than once. Back to square one.

Think good thoughts,
 
Daphne