The garden grows. Lettuce is getting big, and the peas are covered in blossom. I’ve not spent much time out there, but yesterday evening two willing helpers worked with me and together we dug up the rest of the untamed upper bed, rooting out all the Comfrey, Bindweed, and other growing green things. This whole project of cultivation, taming the wild, making my rows perfect, eliminating everything I determine a weed, is strange work indeed.
I walked in the woods this morning. The ground is so soft with its blanket of old leaves, needles, moss, and roots. After the weekend of rain everything was wet, lots of pools of standing water, water logged moss-covered insect infested rotting logs, and glistening webs through the trees. And the birds are singing. I walked along the old stonewalls and laid my hands on the granite rocks that carry some infinite power of presence. I thought about getting lost, but in the end I didn’t.
I found nothing to resist in the woods. I had no need to uproot the natural landscape or complain about the bugs eating the plants. In the garden I come face to face with my cultivated life, with how I want things to be, how I want others to behave! I’m invested and determined and my identity rides on whether the poor little broccoli plants thrive (at the moment they are being eaten one at a time by something). I’ll remind myself to keep heading into the woods and not just spend all my time in the garden (or in the house at my computer!).
As I came out of the woods I could see stands of Japanese Knotweed all along the roadside. I have to admit that it is beautiful. Long graceful stalks with heart shaped leaves spanning out into space. I’ve included a photo. This doesn’t mean I don’t still want to get rid of most of it from the property, but clearly my fire is cooling or my perspective at least is widening.
Remember to spend time in the sweet presence of your life as well as the nitty-gritty of your circumstances.
I walked in the woods this morning. The ground is so soft with its blanket of old leaves, needles, moss, and roots. After the weekend of rain everything was wet, lots of pools of standing water, water logged moss-covered insect infested rotting logs, and glistening webs through the trees. And the birds are singing. I walked along the old stonewalls and laid my hands on the granite rocks that carry some infinite power of presence. I thought about getting lost, but in the end I didn’t.
I found nothing to resist in the woods. I had no need to uproot the natural landscape or complain about the bugs eating the plants. In the garden I come face to face with my cultivated life, with how I want things to be, how I want others to behave! I’m invested and determined and my identity rides on whether the poor little broccoli plants thrive (at the moment they are being eaten one at a time by something). I’ll remind myself to keep heading into the woods and not just spend all my time in the garden (or in the house at my computer!).
As I came out of the woods I could see stands of Japanese Knotweed all along the roadside. I have to admit that it is beautiful. Long graceful stalks with heart shaped leaves spanning out into space. I’ve included a photo. This doesn’t mean I don’t still want to get rid of most of it from the property, but clearly my fire is cooling or my perspective at least is widening.
Remember to spend time in the sweet presence of your life as well as the nitty-gritty of your circumstances.
