Garden Thoughts
Garden Thoughts
May 2010 Nanaimo Magazine
By Lesley Lorenz
Spring Garden
My garden is full of little spots to sit and think. Chairs, settees, benches and arbors are tucked into corners, surrounded by flowers and greenery. Each one offers a different view, a new way of looking at the blooms and the vegetables. I mix strawberries in with marigolds, roses together with beans. It’s a hodgepodge garden, and ‘volunteers’ – or weeds, if you want to be less tolerant – are left to fill in the spaces between my more desirable plants.
And somehow, that’s just like my head. I like to reflect on things from different angles, and even the weedy thoughts that pop up on their own can offer a little colour to the landscape between my ears. Some thoughts I purposely put there (they still get out of hand and need to be pruned) and others sneak in on their own, seeds blown in from the thoughts and actions of those close to me. It’s messy but colourful, just like my garden. Too much control could land you with a barren landscape. Good fertilizer helps – feed your thoughts with healthy stuff like time spent with friends or a walk in the back alleys. Avoid pests by hanging a little mental fly-paper strip, to catch should-haves and if-onlys.
The really nice flowers (okay and some of the weeds too) make it into the house where I display them on the table, putting the prettiest of the garden’s pickings in the centre of the table. So too, the best of your thoughts are the ones to lay on the table for family to enjoy. Share the good stuff – as my close friend MJ says – bring your best game home. Keep the orneriness and short temper for passing pedestrians and share your patience and kisses with the ones at home. So whether you’re plucking a peony from the garden or a compliment from your daydreams, letting a little love bloom will add colour to your day.