Weeds are EVERYWHERE.
I intentionally planted everything close so that it would overgrow and limit weeds, but still they've found a way to grow everywhere.
So, every day, little by little I've been weeding it. Especially on days right after rain when everything is easiest to pull. It is meditative for me, focusing on grasping the whole plant and pulling it straight up while not bringing any of my good plants up. Miles is into bugs and Andrew loves gardening. So I can usually get them to join me for an hour or even two. They seem to fall into the same silent meditative state, watching bugs or digging in the dirt. We find a peace that settles across the whole front lawn and it restores some piece of us.
Some days I'm able to clear a whole tiny section. And it looks amazing. I get so excited to think what it will look like. I long to keep going but eventually someone calls me inside to fix something or stop a fight or make food.
The other day, we were working away as usual and a pair of neighbors that I didn't know walked by, heading towards the downtown. Maybe an hour later they passed back on their way home.
"Made a ton of progress." One called.
"Thank you so much for this garden." The other said. "I admire it almost every day. It is just lovely."
My garden is a hodgepodge that mostly ended up the way it is by accident.
Andrew went through phases of being obsessed with succulents and digging and "engineering" with dirt and various plants. And all these obsessions were gentle shepherded into what felt like something like art. Almost, like chopped where you get a list of ingredients that don't seem to go together and somehow you have to make it work. Gardening with Andrew has been a bit like that. He has a vision that isn't quite orthodox and somehow, I have to bend it slightly to make a yard out of it.
For me, it is a place of peace,
memories with Andrew and the other boys,
a place for miles to watch bugs,
seasons measured by different blooms and fruit on the trees.
It is home.
But it struck me, it is also my front yard.
It isn't a hidden diary or a well organized drawer that I'm proud of but no one else sees.
It can bring light and peace to other people.... because plants ground us to earth and beauty is something we all long to engage with.
I love scrolling through Pinterest.
Mostly because people are amazing.
They come up with the most creative and beautiful ideas.
Some I want to try to imitate or make my own.
Some I just enjoy looking at.
Part of our souls are deeply fed by creating, by beauty, by the creativity of the world around us.
Good jazz,
painting,
dance,
a well designed room,
color, shape, light.
In the image of the creator, we are made.
The hand that paints the sunset across the sky,
that blew the purple dust of galaxies that swirl millions of miles away,
that called out the colors that dance beneath the waves and in the shade of rain forests.
With all that bashes against our souls right now, leaning into moments of beauty can give us rest.
Even for a moment.
disclaimer: This is from last year. Rains were better and I haven't yet gotten this far on weeding and I really could use some new mulch.
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