Trains, planes and automobiles are all standard small boy fare. But this one—he’s a dirt man. Like a siren song, it beckons to him with it’s earthy goodness.

Living in the nicely landscaped ‘burbs, rare are the chances of getting his hands on any. So this weekend, when we had to uproot and replant a tree in the backyard, he was out of his mind with excitement.

For two hours he dug, scooped and moved dirt from one place to another. My camera lens went almost entirely unnoticed, so intense was his focus. A sandbox would likely win points as a long-term alternative to leaving our yard torn up… but there’s just something about real dirt.

To a little boy in a blue shirt, heaven is all brown.