Why Garden?

Why do I garden? Previous posts may have given the impression that I garden to get healthy, fresh, organic food (true), or because I am concerned about the environment (true), or because I like getting food less expensively (true). But the real reason is this: I love playing in the mud! A day like today, after huge rain storms, is almost my favorite time to be in the garden. The earth is soft and squishy, and the whole garden has that fresh after-the-rain smell...take a deep breath and be joyful, it says. Let down your hair,close your eyes, take off your shoes, and feel,really feel the earth beneath you. Who cares if your hands and feet get muddy? Some fools pay to have mud treatments, right? And we gardeners get to do it for free.