Hello fellow Earthlings,
Let me be the first to announce: I AM NOT A GARDENER.
Yet, 2020 seems to be the year that we step out of our comfort zones and do new things and wear different hats.
So today I put on the gardening gloves found in my parents' garage and grabbed a bucket and some gardening tools and went out in the sun and toiled in the Earth.
It felt good to get my hands dirty after having to keep them so damn clean with this virus. It felt good to get a little messy and talk to the 91-year-old neighbor over the fence about how he keeps his apple tree pruned in order to have a good crop of apples.
When I came outside to the garden, I think he was surprised. He hadn't seen me in months in the yard. I just don't hang out there. I tend to walk straight to the beach and hang out in other places on my walks.
He was gardening too and other people in the neighborhood were also gardening and some were walking their dogs and riding their bikes. It was a beautiful day!
"I'm a bit of a hermit," I told him.
"Actually, I am too," he said.
And then, "Do you sleep in? I never see the blinds opened."
I was a little embarrassed, but I rarely open the blinds on the side of the house that faces other houses. I only open the blinds that look out on the golf course. I guess I like my privacy out here. I like to write, and work on my class and do my own things. I enjoy exercise, but I'm not a big neighborhood socialite. In fact, most of the neighbors have never seen me. I'm sure they see my car and wonder, "Is there someone there?"
But today, like a bear that finally pokes its nose out of its den, I made an appearance in the hood. It felt good to be out in the sun working in the yard and talking to the neighbors. I saw a hummingbird and bees and a raven and a few eagles way up high. I would toil for awhile and then sit on the bench in the sun and then toil some more. I managed to fill a huge bucket full of weeds, but there's lots more to do. I feel like this may be a new activity for me as the weather starts to get nicer and warmer. Who knows? Maybe I'll even sit out on the deck in the sun and read! Whoa, now I'm really venturing out of my comfort zone!
I'm fortunate to be here at my parents' house. I'll be leaving here in May. I've enjoyed it so much. After living here for nearly 5 months, I've decided that I want to live on the Olympic Peninsula. My body and spirit love it out here. I love the spaciousness and all the hiking and nature and water nearby.
I don't know where on the Olympic Peninsula I'll land next, but wherever it is, I know I'd like my boyfriend to live with me and I'd love to get a cat. I hope I have nice neighbors like the ones here and I think I might just have to create a garden!
Do you like to garden? What do you like about it?
No comments:
Post a Comment