What year was it that Spring Break became a right?  or Rite?  If it was announced during my childhood springs, we would have missed it while getting the tobacco and tomatoes in the ground.  Or just maybe my folks heard about it, and decided it was best all the way around that they keep that info to themselves. 

When I was a young wife, married to a young farmer to which every year seemed the "most important", it was hard to get him away at all in the spring.  His body might leave, but his mind stayed behind, thinking of all that was urgent.  Finally, other folks seem to be doing what we had to do, and are spending their time just at home - the economy forcing them to be creative and enjoy closer sorts of fun.  So in the spirit of the overused word - "Staycation" - here is how we passed a recent week.

Anthony worked on his tan.  Turns out that if you are really into that sort of thing, you can get a decent golden glow by taking care of the mowing and weedwhacking between the garden rows.  Add some cool shades and perhaps some music - lose the button-up shirt - and before you know it, you too have the look of a beach-goer.  (That one part is for men only: the girls here tan elsewhere - and sometimes the guys keep the shirt on to get a more farmer-friendly tan.)

Frank saw every sunrise and sunset!  Both early and late he made his ridgetop rounds and as it happened, every time someone needed a bucket of feed or water, the sun was coming or going.  

Shucks, who needs to wander down to the surf to take that in? And you can kinda combine it with a workout walking up and down hills.

Garrett, our vegetable grower, mostly took it easy.  As in, he easily finished planting the greens and potatoes, leeks, and even eagerly put out a few tomatoes.  Then all the guys shared the joy of putting down the plastic mulch in the sections that needed it.  At least it "looked easy" when one drove by and it was over.

As for me, I did a lot of shopping.  It takes someone to hunt and gather one more roll of this, box of that, and bundle of whatchamacallits, along with a few more bean seeds, plant food, and so on.  You can tell by looking that I don't get to the mall often, partly by choice, but partly because I don't want to make another run into town.  

I guess now that its past, I can see why people are more worn out after Spring Break than when it started.