Little Garden...

I don't really have time for a garden.  But... still... I try to grow one.  A garden is a reminder of the miracles of life that surround us and a lesson in caring for something other than yourself.  It's also a chance to slow down and give over to the sheer act of physical labor.  Hauling water and pulling weeds don't give much room to mull over the state of the country or the doldrums of adulting.  Even if thoughts of such things cross your mind, they seem like small matters compared to the task at hand.  A garden is also a lesson in patience and reward.  If you mind your garden and care for the plants, keeping them watered, fed, and free from competition, riches will emerge like shining jewels – a single tomato, brighter and more intense than any ruby or glowing garnet.  A small treasure that tastes of sunshine and summer soon gone.

Like most things worth doing, if you give of yourself and your time, nurturing it with love and tender devotion, it too will nourish you.  If you give, you will get back.

The lessons aren't always easy ones or entertaining.  We are made to remember that sometimes, no matter how much we love and water, pick, pluck, prune, and coddle... some things just aren't meant to be.  A garden, like life, is all about taking chances.  Will the weather be good?  Will a blight take hold?  Will slugs, ants, and other insects take notice?  Sometimes our best efforts just aren't enough or are too much, for a heavy hand can be just as bad as a negligent one.  We are taught in the language of leaves and stems, roots and flowers, that life is a balancing act and that it is fleeting and we must rejoice in the harvest when we can!

I don't really have time for a garden, but... still... I try, because it is a quiet teacher and what it offers to learn is important and well worth the time and effort.  A little garden is a teacher with big lessons.