Winter is almost over, and part of me hates to see it go. This has been a wonderful winter.
Spring is busting out all over. Talk this morning has been about gardens, tillers, tractor, and planting. I love to garden. Last summer, the teens and I would get up early and spend three hours together gardening Monday through Friday. With five growing boys to feed, it didn’t hurt them any to help. We work hard while we are out there. The hours went fast and we would all come in exhausted. We would be back in the house at ten and I would have an hour before starting lunch.
This year I am working more hours. I don’t see time for gardening, not much of it anyway. I am bummed about it. So spring might as well not come. I would just stay inside and keep my winter going. It is going so well, why not? Well besides for the fact that I get fat in the winter and thin down once gardening starts.
I don’t know why gardeners like to garden. I guess it is just in our blood. Maybe it is another part of the “nurturer” in me. I like to nurture the plants and watch them grow. I also enjoy the fresh air and exercise, time with my children, and fresh cut flowers and vegetables.
When I am resting, I can look down from my deck and see the orderliness and lushness below. We garden organically and there is all kinds of life our gardens; birds, ladybugs, and earthworms. The smell of the flowers and rich earth… the heat of the sun on my back, and the cool breezes drying the perspiration of my face… My children laughing and bickering… lol. Taking any tension out on the weeds… Life is good.
This year I will be doing more paper work. I actually like paper work. I like working with numbers… receiving the clients checks and spending the bosses money. lol. But not if it keeps me from gardening. With summer will come ball games, fishing, hiking and other family outdoor activities.
So I have to make some room in my day, and that probably means less email, yahoo groups, and yes… blogging.
I am not going to stop, just ease up. I am assuming everyone else including you, dear readers, get busier come nice weather too. If you don’t see me posting for a couple days, you will know where I am… Outside.
I AM ready to shed some layers and get in the sun… hear the kids splash in the pool… hike… drink tea on the deck… I am ready to sit out on our master bedroom balcony and look at the stars, while my mate is at my bosom. Heck yeah, even if I don’t get to garden much, winter can leave. It will be back again before I know it, and I will welcome it too.
I wonder how many people who are sex-negative and think of flowers as “perfectly innocent things” fit for children, realize the reality of flowers–they’re ways for the plant to signal sexual readiness.
The sweet scents, the bright colours, everything we find beautiful about flowers are actually all there to scream out to pollinating insects “Hurry up and fertilize me so I can reproduce!”
How about bosom love on a swinging seat out on the porch on a lazy afternoon?
Gardening is therapeutic. Stress from the day races through the shovel while turning over this God given earth. Oh, the smell of soil getting ready to facilitate the fruits of my labor. I love to watch things grow…seeds as they germinate and push forth their tender shoots and leaves up through the soil that attempts to hold them back. My once tiny leaves are giant dark green heart shapes putting out beautiful yellow flowers that will soon bear the fruit of winter squash. I wait patiently for the reward of my labors. I reflect back on the birth of my children. Hard labor was rewarded then…everything worth doing takes some hard work, stamina and tenacity. I prayed for rain…I got it by the bucketfuls. There is a mote surrounding my garden as it longs for the sun. In the end, my hard work will not dictate the success of my garden. There is an element that belongs to the garden itself. Only time will tell how it will all pan out. Just as we pour our hearts, love and time into our children. There is an element of surprise. I watch and wait and pray that all I have invested in my children will culminate in happy, healthy, loving adults. So far, so good. I enjoy watching my garden and my children grow…how about you?