Grow Something!
Gardening is about enjoying the smell of things growing in the soil, getting dirty without feeling guilty, and generally taking the time to soak up a little peace and serenity. Lindley Karstens, noproblemgarden.com
My favorite story is ‘The Secret Garden” and the British film of it is one of my favorite movies. When the young orphan girl asks “Please, sir, could I have a bit of earth?” my heart overflows with empathy.
As a young girl, I spent my summer days with my beloved books on a seated swing – those old fashioned double seated, canopied things that no one has any more. It wasn’t our garden exactly; someone else had grown the roses and Black Eyed Susan’s, Lilies of the Valley plants, and thick tall lilac bushes that lined the driveway before we came there. Every time we moved our car, it brushed against the lilacs and they released a cloud of fragrance. Bees and butterflies and birds flocked to our garden.
Later, as I moved from place to place, gardens came and went. Soon, I began to “steal” gardens. I learned how to beg for dirt. In Annapolis, I stalked alleys until I found a small plot of unused dirt and knocked on the door and asked for it. In another town, I traded garden chores for my own bit of vegetable land. One apartment I rented had a hedge in front with four foot of dirt between hedge and house. I “rescued” this bit of dirt and grew tomatoes, peppers and flowers in it. I even put a bunny rabbit statuary and a solar lamp in it!
Gardening is more than growing green things. It means hope, imagination, daily surprises and peace in your heart even during those times when all else might fail.
Meditation for the Day
Many things grow in the garden that were never sown there. Thomas Fuller, 1732
Action for the Day
Today, I will grow something green. It can be as simple as a sweet potato top set in a saucer of water to become a vine; it can be a terrarium in an empty peanut butter jar. Or, it can be a front yard butterfly garden full of color and fragrance and a rainbow of butterflies and hummingbirds.
[ ]
Comments
Leave a Reply
