Thursday, March 06, 2008

Simple pleasures from the garden

It's fun now to begin thinking ahead to some of the littlest pleasures the garden will bring; the hard part is finding the patience to wait. I'm not the most patient of people; I sigh and wiggle and roll my eyes through the wait in the grocery store line, lay on the horn too often when the person ahead of me at a red light daydreams past the green and generally expect instant results once I've put my mind to something.

A garden requires a lot of patience; there's soil to be tended and seeds to be coddled and months in between the intention and the reward. Winter and its end, I guess, is a time to respect the process.

At any rate, I thought today about some of the things I look forward to in the coming months. I was sitting outside the office around 11 this morning, in a spot sheltered from the wind and the weak sun was shining on my face and with my eyes closed, I could imagine it June, almost. Imagination or memory, I'm not sure which, brought me this:

~the flash of a hummingbird investigating the blooms of red salvia

~the taste of a sun-warmed tomato or a perfectly ripe strawberry

~the decision to give up on the pretty fingernails (or the ridiculous gloves) and dig recklessly in the dirt with bare hands

~the feel of walking barefoot through wet grass

~the calls of osprey overhead as they commute from the river to their cell tower nest by the train station

~the delight in burying my nose in the lavender patch heedless of the bees

~the tickles from a ladybug on my arm

~the hot shower that soothes tired muscles after a day spent digging and transplanting

~the surprise on a friend's face at the tiniest of vases filled with lily-of-the-valley or an enormous bouquet of peonies and catmint from my garden

Simple pleasures... simple things to look forward to.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Is that Dill or Queen Anne's Lace?

LauraHinNJ said...

DivaKitty: Queen Anne's Lace from last summer. Sigh....

Jayne said...

What a lovely list of things to look forward to Laura. I am right there with you.

dguzman said...

Simple pleasures are often the best pleasures. A beautiful list, to which I'll add:
--the cold splash in the throat of a glass of fresh-made lemonade after hot and sunny hours of working in the garden
--the delight of hearing the first of the spring peepers
--the freedom of wearing shorts and a t-shirt and not being at all cold

sigh.

Anonymous said...

Laura, you should be in advertising!
Your writing could sell gardening to a space traveler.

You must have been grass level for that great shot of the Queen Anne's Lace.

Larry said...

I really don't like the process of gardening itself but love the reults.-Hope yours brings many nice surprises this year.

Ken Albin said...

Spring is just around the corner. It's always my favorite time of the year because of all of the new life springing forth.

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KGMom said...

Another gardening fan weighing in. I am all for fingers in the dirt.
I love the moist yeasty smell of fresh dirt--can't wait to start digging.

The Bunns said...

Edging the beds, taking out winter weeds, seeing the garlic sprouts ...