Sunday morning sunshine

Sunday morning sunshine is the view from the computer room window. While the rest of the neighborhood is quiet I can hear the birds singing and view the pair of gold finches that just landed on the black pussy willow. No one seems to relish their gardens as they did when I moved here. Is everyone so busy they don't have time to enjoy their backyards. Uh oh, there goes a lawn mover disturbing the peace before 9 am.

Sometimes I think about moving on and although I am not materialist about things, this garden is hard to abandon. Few would want to take over the responsibilities of maintaining it. I would be difficult to drive by here in a couple years to find the trees cut down or the perennial border outside my window returned to lawn.

When I think of getting a second job sometimes, I realize I already have one. Yet,I dare to dream of a full time job playing in the earth. Maybe it was my grandfather the hardest working man I've known, a farmer and florist that inspired me. Maybe my fathers love of architecture and creating with his hands...The way he loved the peacefulness of drifting out on the water on his boats, who knows?

Most of us landscape around the foundation to improve the curb appeal of our homes, some add the ornamental trees to line the drive and add containers of annuals to our porch steps. For me its an art form like a painter with a canvas. I want to garden as long as I am able.

What is the point of this rambling? There is much to be learned from a garden. Many of us take it for granted. I see home owners using chemicals to remove weeks that are growing into their driveways. As much as I'd like an easy solution I cannot remove weeds this way. Do they realize that they are adding it to the water supply? Try as we might you cannot make the roses stay on the branch longer and you cannot stop the grass from growing. There will always be weeds somewhere to be dealt with. These things are metaphors for life outside the garden.
Caring for our earth is like caring for children. You feed and water until they are strong enough to grow on their own. They do need a little nurturing from time to time no matter how old they are. Having a garden naturally lends itself to becoming an environmentalist. There is a simple beauty in watching a pair of finches or wrens fighting to release a tasty worm from the garden soil. The song of the cardinals is unlike no other. In the end its about finding serenity from a busy world in whatever way you can. Sunday's are all about relaxing...... Enjoy your day.