It has been almost a week since you have sown the seeds into your potted garden.  Just a few short days since the last frost date has passed and you can now safely keep your tender plants outdoors. 

Each day this week you greeted them with fresh water and little cooing noises as you encouraged those seeds to plant themselves firmly in the soil you provided for them.  You fussed, too, over the larger plants--your herbs and tomatoes.  You snipped cilantro for last night's blue corn quesadilla and rosemary for this morning's omelet.  You rearranged your pots so your spinach and chard seeds could get more shade, and your mint gets all the sun it wants. 

And then you see it, those tiny little heads poking up from the dirt: your radishes are sprouting.  Your lettuces are making their way into the world.  A zing runs up your spine.  Those are your seeds, your plants, happily growing under your gentle care.  You breathe in the scent of wet earth, the soft perfume of a spring morning, already anticipating the first peppery bite of your radishes, the first salad made from your greens.

You marvel at these earthly treasures, these capsules of self-care that open and grow with the right nourishment.  You know you will not be able to stop yourself fussing over your plants throughout the day, checking those sprouting seed to see if they have grown just a little more, but for now, it is enough to see small radish leaves making their way through the dirt into the sun.