Those words will soon be heard as the summer Olympics in Paris begin. Springtime is also the beginning of Major League Baseball with the famous words, “play ball!”

As lovely as Waitsburg is, it’s not Paris or home to an MBL team. When I hear, “Let the games begin,” it’s to announce the start of Daniel’s and my garden competition. As a friend once said, “You guys don’t have a relationship; you have a competition.” She hit that nail on the head!

While Daniel is at work, I have gotten a head start on planting, weeding, and cleaning the beds. However, he has done the dirty work, dragging bags of compost into the yard and spreading it throughout the planters.

I have planted radishes, albeit three times. The first was too soon, typical for my impatient nature, and they didn’t make it through the cold and wet weather. The second time, they started to sprout, but I was overly ambitious about weeding. Moving the dirt to dig out mint and oops, I dug up the radish sprouts. The third planting is the charm, and I see sprouts!

I also planted lettuce too early, so it’s on to batch two. To ensure I have some lettuce to harvest, I also planted some starts with the seeds. After all the lettuce we had last spring, summer, and fall, I resented buying lettuce over the winter. The agricultural wizards need to develop lettuce that can last months in the refrigerator.

Dragging out last year’s seed bucket from the garden shed, I witnessed the destruction of another mouse invasion. They ate bags of seeds. I hope they grow zucchini in their stomachs and explode.

No thanks to the mice, I’ve planted Walla Walla sweets, leeks, and some garlic. They were looking a little sad all by themselves, so for fun, I threw in random lettuce and radish seeds. I can’t wait to see Daniel’s reaction to the disorganization of that bed.

The birds have been busy this year, and I’ve added a few more feeders to the garden for our entertainment. Even Mugsy has resigned himself to the birds’ intrusion in his “yard, “ allowing them to eat in peace instead of chasing them away. This does not apply to neighborhood cats or squirrels hanging out in the yard; those he attacks without success, other than chasing them all away.

The birds continue to drop their seeds, and I already see sunflowers starting. I hope we are inundated with them. Last year, we didn’t have many, but there was one with a head between twelve and fifteen inches wide and a trunk about six inches in diameter.

Right now, I am content with the tulips, baby hyacinths, and daffodils blooming in my yard and all around town. Spring is here, and I am excited to see what grows from my planting, what appears on its own, and where our seeds actually end up sprouting. The mysteries continue.

I was encouraged by the break in the early spring rain to break out the patio furniture, clean the pillows and cushions, vacuum outdoor carpets, and wash the decks.

Now, it’s ready, set, go – let the games begin.