It's April First, Again. A few years ago we had experienced a very mild winter and exceptionally early spring. Around St. Patrick’s Day we tilled and planted our garden with cool season seeds. I should probably qualify this story and explain that Keith had never been involved in the early stages of garden preparation and planting but embraced the task with enthusiasm. The variety of peas we selected boasted claims of, “fast germination, earliest to produce, and large yield”.
Every afternoon, when he would get home from work, Keith would run down to the garden to look for new growth and see if any seedlings had sprouted. Watching his exuberance inspired an idea for an April Fools trick.
My dad loves Keith and loves playing tricks on him. He helped me paint bunches of plastic plants in bright green; we had a variety of leaves and plastic stems of all shapes and sizes. We planted our painted beauties in the same rows as our seedlings and laughed all the while thinking of Keith’s reaction.
As usual, Keith visited the garden when he got home. Watching him from the window we saw him turn toward the house. Keith was clapping his hands and running. Flinging open the door, he cried, “Holy Cow (or something to that effect)! You won’t believe how much everything has grown.” We followed him back outside, pinching ourselves to keep from laughing, We were grinning from ear to ear as we watched his reaction. Bending forward Keith rubbed a leaf, shook his head and began to laugh. There’s great joy in a good natured joke that plays out well. Over the past twenty-one plus years I’ve played several April Fools jokes on Keith, he’s always a good sport.
This weekend as I plant the garden I’ll be snickering to myself as I recall that April Fools prank. My parents will be home from Florida within the next few days and when they come to visit I’ll show them this year’s garden and we’ll all laugh as we remember our painted garden.