Saturday, April 19, 2014

Easter at a Whole New Level

            I’ve always loved the Sandi Patty song “Was it a morning like this?”
(In case you’ve never heard it, here’s my little Easter gift to you  ~ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GpIC0d_3bWo&feature=kp )

In follow up to yesterday’s blog, my day was spent preparing my lavender for transplant. Right now finds my lavender much weeded over from last season. Why? Because I made the mistake of letting what we call “volunteer” plants run rampant (in this case, watermelon).
“Volunteer” plants are those that pop up outside of the rows you intended, from seedlings having been left over from prior years. Last year I viewed them as cute… Thought them strong willed and determined…independent plants with a mind of their own, and since I could relate, I let ‘em run wild. This year, I’ll pluck them before they grow as they can wreak havoc on your intended rows if you’ve got things crossing up, as was the case with my watermelons and my lavender. (Note to self: Discipline--It's a good thing.)

To give credit where credit is due, Thurman warned me the first year I grew a garden that my lavender was too close to my watermelon mounds, but I didn’t listen. Heck, I’d given those watermelons a good 10 feet on every side. How much room did they need? (Turns out, a lot.) For the record, Thurman hates lavender and thinks my idea to grow a purple yard a stupid one, as in his words "It’s a waste of perfectly good farm land.” But that’s ok. If Thurman and I agreed on everything this garden wouldn’t be half as fun. I’ve just learned to pick my battles. (This ain’t one.)
To be clear, the beauty of the day was not about pulled weeds, but about what weeds represent in all our lives.

As mentioned, my dear friend Dawn received a cancer diagnosis 3 days ago, the shock from which still has her inner circle stymied. When I asked what we could do between now and Monday (when she goes to the doctor to figure out the game plan of what looks to be a combination of surgery, chemo and radiation) she asked if she might come pull weeds. (You gotta love that Dawn. Ever the servant’s heart!)

As you might imagine, our weed pulling was less about the plants, more about us. With Rosey to help and the most gorgeous weather ever, our therapy session lasted well into the afternoon, with about a third of the plants helped. At one point Dawn looked down the long row of weeded over lavender and said, ‘My gosh, this will take hours” to which I replied, “Oh I have no intention of completing it today. Matter of fact, it’s not about completion at all. When it comes to this lavender (or all my garden for that matter) it’s all about the process…all about the journey.
As with gardens, so with life.

Guess you could say we’ve taken “weed therapy” to a whole new level.

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