Pocket Welcome Spring

        

   It was the longest winter ever.  Every morning we awoke hoping to find spring awaiting us.  But all we found was winter.  The ground was hard and frozen, the grass bent and dull.  Our stroller hung in the shed unoccupied as our flowers slept.
            When the grass was cold and wet River, and I often peed in Foley’s garden, much to her chagrin, to keep our paws dry.  Late in March, as I squatted to do my business, I heard a soft sound, like a Who on a dandelion, calling my name.  They were my flowers announcing their imminent arrival.
            I ran inside, dragging River behind me, for once, and told Mommy that the flowers were coming.  She looked out the window towards St. Anthony’s Garden and announced I was right.  The very tip of our flowers was breaking ground.
            A few days later, on a freezing Wednesday, the stroller was removed from the shed and opened.  River and I were placed inside so we could oversee our parents’ dedicated work.  My dad raked the lawn and mommy cleaned the gardens.
            The next week Mother Nature players a cruel trick.  She made it snow on our delicate young flowers.  When I squatted in Foley’s garden, I heard them shivering.  I asked mommy if we could bring them inside.  Mommy said not to worry.  Her flowers were hearty.
            Mommy was right:  The cruel snow melted.  The stubborn temperature slowly climbed.  On Monday, we were in our supervisory stroller again.  Tools were brought out of the shed; the lawn mower was filled with grass and the tall, thick grass that had bothered my legs were chopped down to a soft cushion.  Mommy took her tools to the garden and moved the soil.  The smell of spring arose from the soil:  The smell of hope.
            Soon the flowers popped up, each one saying:  “Hello Pocket, we have been waiting all winter to see you.  Thank you for keeping us warm by peeing on us.”
            We have a lot of work to do.  Plants to buy, gardens to redesign; making our little corner of the Earth beautiful again.  Once it becomes warm, and all the flowers are blooming, Foley and the angels will come and visit us in the form of butterflies and hummingbirds.
            But for the next few weeks, I am looking forward to welcoming all our flowers back to our yard.