Diary of a Gardener Sometimes Life is Hard - Go Garden

Sometimes, life is hard. Sometimes, nothing goes in your favor and the walls feel like they are caving in. The lug nuts are off the tire, and you are just hoping the wheel does not come off while you are driving, racing to the next stop. Using bubble gum as glue to hold it all together, knowing before too long the bubble gum will lose its elasticity and your house of cards will tumble. That is what it felt like lately. But I wake myself up in the mornings and give myself the good ole “you can do this” speech and day by day everything feels semi symbiotic in my world.

The one activity that always brings me back to my center is gardening. The sounds of the birds singing, wind rustling through the trees, wind chimes ringing and then there’s the neighbor’s dog who barks insistently for 30 minutes on the other side of the fence. I often talk to her to see if she is listening. I was not surprised; it did not work. There is so much for my eyes to see. I follow a butterfly land on a red flower to nectar or a monarch land on the milkweed plant to lay her eggs. Flowers and more flowers, colors, textures, and smells… I smell my Sweet Almond Bush, geraniums, the African Blue basil and if I am lucky, I can smell a rose just after it has opened its bud. I gather my supplies and slip one pruner in my left pocket and my snipers in my right pocket. I keep my phone nearby as well. One for music, it helps keep the neighbors from interrupting my sacred alone time and I never know when a hummingbird or butterfly will catch my eye and I need to chase it around taking videos of it circling my garden searching for its nectar. It seems so simple, doesn’t it? Nature makes us forget the worries and stresses we encounter daily. It is to me. I have been so busy the last couple of weeks, my weekly gardening chores have taken a back seat. I get a little fix by planting my customer’s gardens, but I am usually too worried about the outcome to enjoy the process. I am also being paid so time is of the essence. But having my hands in the soil does have a calming effect.

This time is what I long for. I look forward to it for days as if I am heading to Disney World. Instead, I am headed out to the big wide world of Tenille’s Garden. There, all will be well with the world.