Growing an Appreciation for Our Gardens
By Cindy Naas
Last week, I was in an accident.
I was driving my children to a class when my brakes completely quit.
I ran two stop lights and a stop sign before being able to get my car under control again.
Luckily, no one was badly hurt. The car is already repaired, and my kids didn’t even notice what was happening- they cheered to see their boring old mom driving wildly. “Wow, you drove just like a race car driver!” my youngest said as he clapped. Children are so lucky, they see life in such uncomplicated terms.
After I got home that night, I was still very shaken, and so I went outside to recover from that incident. I did what I always find most comforting - I watered my garden. I wandered through the herb garden, pulling a stray weed, smelling the lavender in the evening air.
I watered the big pots of tomatoes all covered in flowers, and grew excited at the thought of eating that first red juicy ripe tomato still warm from the sun. I fussed over the palm tree my boys bought me for Mother’s Day, which reminded me of our trip to Nashville where they bought it. One thought led to another happy thought, and soon, I felt much better.
It’s funny, being on the business end of a garden hose gives you such peace of mind. Watching the garden grow through the summer, seeing the bees hovering around the thyme flowers, smelling the sharp scent of growing sage, those things work better than a week long vacation to soothe me. There’s just nothing like caring for our gardens to bring order to a sometimes crazy world.
I believe that growing a garden nourishes our minds just as much as our bodies. I now understand why my father headed out to his rose garden after work, pausing only to pull off his tie before going outside to trim and tidy his babies.
My children will sometimes suggest to me that I go out to water the garden if I become upset about anything. I have to say that so far, it works well except when they are trying to get out of doing math. Enjoy your gardens and your families this summer- both are so very precious.
July 9th, 2008 at 4:36 pm
HI! I linked to your blog from my good friend Dad White’s Tomato Garden Journal and I wanted to compliment you on your post and thank you for sharing these wonderful thoughts with us. Sometimes the obvious can get by us in today’s too-busy, too-fast world, but you’ve definitely reconnected us with what’s real — we all feel much better when we maintain and nuture our connection to the rest of nature! For me, that includes other species as well as gardening. (CAT LOVER) ^^
July 9th, 2008 at 5:21 pm
WONDERFUL thoughts!!! You are absolutely right. There is NOTHING like a garden to help us reclaim our focus. Thank you for sharin this!
July 9th, 2008 at 11:58 pm
Even though I have dreamt about having a vegetable garden for years, all I thought about was eating food I had grown myself. I never expected to enjoy the actual work so much. I’ve never been an outdoorsy person, but I find it very soothing just to sit next to my little garden plot even if I don’t have any work to do in it that day.
July 11th, 2008 at 11:42 pm
It’s so rewarding to do the manual work in a garden. It’s too easy to get into a spectator mindset for me- books, movies and of course the internet are very tempting ways to spend time. Doing something with my hands makes me feel grounded and whole again.
Thanks to all for your very kind comments. It’s nice to find others who understand the way we all feel about our gardens.