"Darrell's Park"

The first sign that summer is coming in “Darrell's Park” is the blooming of the crab apple tree. I think it is my favorite with its delicate deep pink blossoms. It's a feast for the eyes to say the least.

Shortly after the crab apple blooms the white blossoms of the cherry tree spread to the top of the house and reminds me of a brides wedding dress. A couple weeks after the blossoms from the cherry tree start to fade the apple tree's begin to show their beauty and soon little apples will begin to appear.

It's good to once again see the green of summer and listen to the sweet music of the birds in the early hours of the morning.

Yard work never has been something that I enjoy doing and I seriously doubt it ever will be. I love planting my flowers and setting up the patio, but when it comes to mowing the lawn, trimming bushes, weeding and all the other things, well forget it is not my thing. Darrell loved it and took great pride in the Kallio park. I can see him walking around with his spray canister of “weed be gone” looking for dandelions (or as my neighbor calls them - “Mothers Flowers”) or thistles to squirt. He went after them like a policeman goes after the bad guy - “take that you dirty sucker – take that!” We had a Labrador retriever for many years, she was his buddy. If he even looked like he was headed for the patio door she was right there with him. I always got a kick out of watching the two of them. She adored chasing after a Frisbee and would drive you crazy until you played with her. When Darrell would mow the lawn she would set her Frisbee right in his path so that he had to stop and pick it up. He would throw it out into the greenbelt so that it would take her a little bit to retrieve it. He would no sooner get going again and there she would be. I hired a neighbors son to mow the lawn for me this summer. Funny how just the sound of the lawn mower brought back so many memories.

I'm fortunate to have incredible neighbors who spent almost an entire day helping me last week. They trimmed all of Darrell's bushes and mowed the lawn. The grass had grown so much that I thought perhaps we would need to rent a bailing machine. With all the rain we've had every thing had gone wild. I'm glad it's all doing so well but it could grow just a little slower. I've just about got the patio finished and today I bought new cushions for my wicker furniture, something Darrell convinced me last year that we didn't need.

Tonight as I sat and enjoyed how beautiful everything is I couldn't help but feel Darrell there with me. So many summer nights we sat on the patio with just a few candles burning
enjoying the coolness of the evening and talking as married people do. I think what I miss the most are those conversation that would last until midnight or later while we watched the moon rise over the house.

I just hope I'm able to keep Darrell's park as beautiful as he always did.