Tuesday, April 10, 2012

A Garden

Out in my gardens a few days ago, I was thinking about such. A bit of earth, the soil, the making of a garden.

When I was a kid we used to visit my aunts and uncle in Deer Creek, Oklahoma. They had gardens which merit some awards. These were the gardens which sustained the gardeners both in vegetables, and in flowers, the year over. My Aunts Edna, Rachel, and Grace were experts in the preserving and canning of the garden crops. Their meals were scrumptious! I know Uncle Ralph played his part in the gardens, too. Those gardens always had some interesting things for this kid's mind to behold. Those gardens were immaculate.

Sometime in my later childhood, my Dad decided to make a strawberry patch in our back yard. That was fun! (for me). It was even more interesting after I discovered turtles (tortoises) haunting the patch. I loved turtles...

And then Dad made a vegetable garden. That was not as interesting to me. Later years, he ventured into roses. Let me tell you - this is his gardening forte! He has always had an incredible rose garden, since its inception. Even this week, my Mom was telling me that they have had roses all week long. This is what I remember about my growing up: my Dad always brought roses in for my Mom - daily. What a great gift - fresh roses from the man she loves.

So there I was, a few days ago, thinking about soil and gardening and such. The musical The Secret Garden came to mind, when Mary Lennox asks her uncle for "a bit of earth".

A bit of earth? That's what we gave our kids - from the season that they could comprehend seed+soil+water+sun=God's gift. We gave our kids plots of soil in our yards to do with as they wished.

And here I was, a few days ago, reflecting on some rag I had read about some "movie star" family who traveled the world with their umpteen kids.

I thought to myself: those kids have no bit of earth. They have no concept of a garden. So sad.

I think anyone could yearn for "a bit of earth".

I suppose, when I yearn for the city life and museums and activity and asphalt and - whatever - , I should pause and take a breath, and venture out to see what my "bit of earth" has given me.

2 comments:

Melissa G said...

What a beautiful post, T!

Louise Plummer said...

Lovely. My mother-in-law had an acre in the city with a small creek running through it. She had a rose garden, a vegetable garden, raspberries, peach trees, iris, peonies, and plenty of lawn to play football.

We used to have a summer house in Nova Scotia with a sumptious perennial garden that lasted all summer. We grew pole beans as a nod to vegetables. But it's the flowers that feed my soul.

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